Bentartia is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the familyZoarcidae, the eelpouts. Some authorities treat this genus as monospecific, with the only species being Bentartia cinerea of the Southern Ocean, but other authorities include 4 species from the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
Bentartia was first proposed as a genus by the Argentinian zoologistJésus Matallanas when he described its only species B. ciberea with a type locality given as the Gerlache Strait in the Southern Ocean at 64°32'58"S, 61°97'38"W from a depth of 1,056 m (3,465 ft).[1] This genus is classified within the subfamilyLycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[2]
Etymology
Bentartia is named after BENTART, the Spanish expeditions to the Antarctic, the holotype of B. cinerea was collected during these expeditions.[3]
Species
Fishbase only recognises one species, B. cinerea, within the genus but other authorities recognise the following species:[4]
The other three species are included in Bothrocara by Fishbase.[5]
Distribution and habitat
Bentartia, as B. cinerea, was originally described from the Gerlache Strait.[6] The other species which have since been assigned to this genus are found in the eastern Pacific between the Bering Strait in the north and Chile in the south.[4] They are bathydemersal[2] and bathypelagic fishes.[7]
^Jesús Matallanas (2010). "Description of two new genera, Santelmoa and Bentartia and two new species of Zoarcidae (Teleostei, Perciformes) from the Southern Ocean". Polar Biology. 33 (5). doi:10.1007/s00300-009-0742-y.