Bearded eelpout

Bearded eelpout
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Subfamily: Lycodinae
Genus: Lyconema
Gilbert, 1896
Species:
L. barbatum
Binomial name
Lyconema barbatum
Gilbert, 1896

The bearded eelpout (Lyconema barbatum) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. This species is the only species in the monospecific genus Lyconema. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy[edit]

The bearded eelpout was first formally described in 1896 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as off central California.[1] Gilbert also described a new monospecific genus, Lyconema, when he described the bearded eelpout.[2] This taxon is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[3]

Etymology[edit]

The bearded eelpout's genus name is a combination of lyco, in reference to Lycodes, meaning that this taxonm is similar to that one, but has its lower jaw furnishes with a dense mass of slender filaments or barbels, nema meaning thread. The specific name barbatum means "bearded" in another allusion to the filaments on the lower jaw.[4]

Description[edit]

The bearded eelpout has 9 or 10 suborbital bones and a cephalic sensory canal with 9 pores. There are 2 parallel lines of cirri on the lower jaw and. in adults, these often extend back as far as the branchiostegal region. They have 2 fin rays in the pelvic fin. The body is covered in small scales, there are two small pyloric caecae and a lateral line. There are small on sexually dimorphic teeth in the jaws and there are vomerine teeth and palatine teeth.[5] This species attains a maximum published total length of 17 cm (6.7 in).[6]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

The bearded eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from off southern Oregon south to central Baja California, Mexico. It is a demersal fish found at depths between 82 and 373 m (269 and 1,224 ft) over soft substrates consisting of mud or a mix of sand and mud.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Lyconema". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  2. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  3. ^ Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
  4. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (6 May 2022). "Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  5. ^ M. Eric Anderson (1994). "Systematics and Osteology of the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 60.
  6. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Lyconema barbatum" in FishBase. June 2022 version.