Artedidraconinae A. P. Andriashev 1967: 403

Parker, Elyse & Near, Thomas J., 2022, Phylogeny Reconciles Classification in Antarctic Plunderfishes, Ichthyology & Herpetology 110 (4), pp. 662-674 : 665-667

Artedidraconinae A. P. Andriashev 1967: 403

Type species.— Artedidraco mirus Lönnberg (1905: 40–41) .

Definition.— The least inclusive clade that includes Artedidraco mirus Lönnberg (1905: 40–41) , Neodraco skottsbergi ( Lönnberg, 1905: 48–49) , and Dolloidraco longedorsalis Roule (1913: 16) , but not Harpagifer bispinis (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801: 45).

Morphological apomorphies.— (1) Presence of a mental barbel ( Eakin, 1981; Balushkin, 2000), (2) five branchiostegal rays ( Eakin, 1981; Balushkin, 2000), (3) opercle with a flattened hook ( Eakin, 1981), (4) floating pleural ribs starting on 5 th to 8 th vertebrae, or absent ( Eakin, 1981; Balushkin, 2000), and (5) four or five hypurals ( Eakin, 1981).

Composition.— There are 12 valid and distinct species of Artedidraconinae with three species of Artedidraco , two species of Neodraco , five species of Pogonophryne , Dolloidraco longedorsalis , and Histiodraco velifer . Eastman and Eakin (2021) list 27 species of Pogonophryne , but analysis of morphology and DNA sequences of ddRAD loci lead to the delimitation of only five described species in the clade ( Parker et al., 2021). Based on analyses of morphology and DNA sequences of ddRAD loci presented in this study, we recognized three species of Artedidraco . We treat Artedidraco glareobarbatus ( Eastman and Eakin, 1999) as a junior synonym of A. shackletoni ( Waite, 1911) . Pending additional morphological and molecular analyses, we suggest that the recognition of A. longibarbatus ( Eakin et al., 2015) as a distinct species is unwarranted.