Functional morphology of gill ventilation of the goosefish, Lophius americanus (Lophiiformes: Lophiidae)

• We characterize kinematics and morphology of gill ventilation in Lophius americanus.
• The slow ventilation (∼90 s per cycle) can be attributed to a long inhalation.
• Muscles extend from the branchiostegals to form specialized gill opening musculature.
• This gill opening musculature shares similarities with that of Tetraodontiformes.

The goosefish, Lophius americanus, is a dorso-ventrally compressed marine fish that spends most of its life sitting on the substrate waiting to ambush prey. Species in the genus Lophius have some of the slowest ventilatory cycles recorded in fishes, with a typical cycle lasting more than 90 s. They have a large gill chamber, supported by long branchiostegal rays and ending in a siphon-like gill opening positioned underneath and behind the base of the pectoral fin. Our goals were to characterize the kinematics of gill ventilation in L. americanus relative to those of more typical ray-finned fishes, address previous assertions about ventilation in this genus, and describe the anatomy of the gill opening. We found that phase 1 of ventilation (during which both the buccal and gill chamber are expanding) is greatly increased in duration relative to that of typical ray-finned fishes (ranging from 62 to 127 s), and during this phase, the branchiostegal rays are slowly expanding. This slow expansion is almost visually imperceptible, especially from a dorsal view. Despite this unusually long phase 1, the pattern of skeletal movements follows that of a typical actinopterygian, refuting previous assertions that Lophius does not use its jaws, suspensorium, and operculum during ventilation. When individuals were disturbed from the sediment, they tended to breathe more rapidly by decreasing the duration of phase 1 (to 18–30 s). Dissections of the gill opening revealed a previously undocumented dorsal extension of the adductor hyohyoideus muscle, which passes from between the branchiostegal rays, through the ventro-medial wall of the gill opening, and to the dorsal midline of the body. This morphology of the adductor hyohyoideus shares similarities with that of many Tetraodontiformes, and we suggest that it may be a synapomorphy for Lophiiformes + Tetraodontiformes. The specialized anatomy and function of the gill chamber of Lophius represents extreme modifications that provide insight into the potential limits of the actinopterygian gill ventilatory system.

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