Bering wolffish

Bering wolffish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Anarhichadidae
Genus: Anarhichas
Species: A. orientalis
Binomial name
Anarhichas orientalis
Pallas, 1814
Synonyms

Anarhichas lepturus Bean, 1879
Anarrhichas lepturus Bean, 1879
Anarrichas fasciatus Bleeker, 1873

The Bering wolffish (Anarhichas orientalis) is a marine fish in the family Anarhichadidae, the "wolffish".[1]

Description

The Bering wolffish has an elongate and laterally compressed body, with a thin caudal peduncle. It has a steep snouth, and, like other wolffish, has long, canine teeth that protrude out past the tips of the jaws.[2]

It can grow to 112 cm and 15 kg in weight, is dark brown in colour and lacks any distinct markings other than some slight blotching or paleish marbling.[3] The head of juveniles may have multiple dark spots and four to five dark coloured longitudinal stripes on the upper body.[2]

The head length is approximately 19 to 21 percent of the total body length.

This species differs from the five other species in the genus in having at least 53 anal rays, 81 to 86 dorsal fin spines, and more rounded, deeper caudal fins.[2]

Distribution

The Bering wolffish species has an inconsistent distribution. It is found from the Northeastern Pacific Ocean from Hokkaido to the Sea of Okhotsk, to Alaska. Although insufficiently documented, it is also known to occur across the Northwestern Pacific, the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean.[2]

Habitat

The Bering wolffish lives on rocky, gravel and sandy substrates,[3] and algae-encrusted bottoms in shallow, inshore locations.[2]

Behaviour

Bering wolffishes are known to practice nesting habits. They produce very big eggs which hatch into larvae remaining in the pelagic zone.[2]

Diet

Benthic invertebrates such as crabs and molluscs.[2][3]

References

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.