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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

bony-eared assfish

Acanthonus armatus 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.

Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.] :The Museum,1876-1940. <a href="https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28865385" rel="noreferrer nofollow">biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28865385</a> "Plate F. Fig. 3. Acanthonus spinifer Garm. Page 170." https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30644630 A.M. Westergren, del.

Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.] :The Museum,1876-1940. <a href="https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28865385" rel="noreferrer nofollow">biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28865385</a> "Plate F. Fig. 3. Acanthonus spinifer Garm. Page 170." https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30644630 A.M. Westergren, del.

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Open encyclopedia reference

The bony-eared assfish (Acanthonus armatus) is a bathypelagic species of cusk-eel found in tropical and sub-tropical oceans at depths of from 1,171 to 4,415 metres (3,842 to 14,485 ft). It has been found as far north as Queen Charlotte Sound off British Columbia's coast. This species grows to a length of 37.5 centimetres (14.8 in) standard length. The larvae are similar in overall form to the related gargoyle cusk, but have elongated 3rd, 4th, and 5th pectoral-fin rays.

The bony-eared assfish has been distinguished, by some sources, as having the smallest brain-to-body weight ratio of any living vertebrate, with one sample brain weighing just 6 milligrams. But the ratio is closely contested by some species of lamprey and the ocean sunfish.

Like many other creatures that dwell in the depths of the sea, assfish are soft and flabby with a light skeleton. This is likely to have resulted from a lack of food and the high pressures which accompany living at such a depth, making it difficult to generate muscle and bone.

Wikipedia contributors, Bony-eared assfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:23:50.418420+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Acanthonus armatus Günther, 1878
Name authority
Günther, 1878
Common name
bony-eared assfish
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Ophidiiformes
Family
Acanthonidae
Genus
Acanthonus
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderOphidiiformes
  11. familyAcanthonidae Wong & Chen, 2024
  12. genusAcanthonus Günther, 1878
  13. speciesAcanthonus armatus Günther, 1878

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Acanthonus hextii (Alcock, 1890)AcanthonidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 2 records assigned to Acanthonidae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded nameSource status
Acanthonus spinifer Garman, 1899 Garman, 1899synonym

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.

  1. 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:64GG6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.