NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

legless searsid

Platytroctes apus Günther, 1878

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

Platytroctes apus is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Platytroctidae, the tubeshoulders. It is known commonly as the legless searsid and legless tubeshoulder. It is native to tropical and temperate oceans around the world. It has been found at depths between 385 and 5393 meters, but it generally remains between 1000 and 2000 meters.

Little is known about this rarely-collected deepsea fish. It reaches up to 18 centimeters in length. Its body is laterally compressed and is described as "leaf-like" and "flabby". It is dark brown in color with luminous patches.

Wikipedia contributors, Platytroctes apus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:03:56.787537+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Platytroctes apus Günther, 1878
Name authority: Günther, 1878
Common name: legless searsid
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Alepocephaliformes
Family: Platytroctidae
Genus: Platytroctes
Extinction status: Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
subphylumVertebrata
infraphylumGnathostomata
parvphylumOsteichthyes
gigaclassActinopterygii
superclassActinopteri
classTeleostei
orderAlepocephaliformes
familyPlatytroctidae Koefoed, 1927
genusPlatytroctes Günther, 1878
speciesPlatytroctes apus Günther, 1878

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Platytroctes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
Platytroctes mirus (Lloyd, 1909)	PlatytroctidaeChordata	Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 36 records assigned to Platytroctidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded name	Source status
Platytroctes procerus Brauer, 1906 Brauer, 1906	synonym

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

Günther, A. (1878). Preliminary notices of deep-sea fishes collected during the voyage of H. M. S. `Challenger. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 5), 2 (nos 7/8/9)(art. 2/22/28): 17–28, 179–187, 248–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937808682376 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4JZPB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.