Related and Similar Species
There are at least eighteen species included in the genus Bathypterois. Similar species are often observed in the same areas. A 2001 report included observations of Bathypterois dubius as far as 50 degrees north latitude in the Bay of Biscay.
There is a striking parallel between some ice fishes and the tripod fishes. Marshall drew attention to the similarities between tripod fish and one of the ice fish, Pagetopsis, which was described by Robilliard and Dayton as perching on a sponge. The stance of Chionodraco is an even more striking parallel. Both ice fishes and the tripod fish use a similar strategy of sitting motionless above the substrate with the attendant benefits that motionlessness brings to a nonvisual, particularly mechanosensory, function.
The tripod fish is closely related to the spider fish Bathypterois longifilis, which is similar in appearances and habits but is smaller and has much shorter fin extensions. They are often found standing very close to each other. The family to which both fish belong, Inopidae, is called the family of tripod fishes or spiderfishes interchangeably.
Read more about this topic: Tripod Fish
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