Eelpout

Eelpout
Gymnelus hemifasciatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Zoarcidae Swainson, 1839
Subfamilies
Gymnelinae Gill, 1863 Lycodinae Gill, 1861 Lycozoarcinae Andriashev, 1939 Zoarcinae Swainson, 1839

The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance, with elongated bodies and the dorsal and anal fins continuous with the caudal fin. All of the roughly 300 species are marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths.

They are conventionally placed in the "perciform" assemblage; in fact, the Zoarcoidei seem to be specialized members of the Gasterosteiformes-Scorpaeniformes group of Acanthopterygii.^[1]

The largest member of the family is Zoarces americanus, which may reach 1.1 m in length. Other notable family members include Lycodapus and Gymnelus.

Popular culture

The Eelpout Festival that takes place in February in Walker, Minnesota, in the United States, celebrates the burbot, which is actually a cod-like fish misleadingly known locally as the eelpout.^[2]

Genera

This family contains about 61 genera and 300 species:

Bothrocara brunneum

Lycodes turneri

Pachycara sp.

Zoarces viviparus

Aiakas Gosztonyi, 1977 Andriashevia Fedorov & Neyelov, 1978 Argentinolycus Matallanas & Corbella, 2012 [3] Austrolycus Regan, 1913 Barbapellis Iglésias, Dettai, & Ozouf-Costaz, 2012 [4] Bellingshausenia Matallanas, 2009 Bentartia Matallanas, 2010 [5] Bilabria Schmidt, 1936 Bothrocara Bean, 1890 Bothrocarina Suvorov, 1935 Crossostomus Lahille, 1908 Dadyanos Whitley, 1951 Davidijordania Popov, 1931 Derepodichthys Gilbert, 1896 Dieidolycus Anderson, 1988 Ericandersonia Shinohara & Sakurai, 2006 Eucryphycus Anderson, 1988 Eulophias Smith, 1902 Exechodontes DeWitt, 1977 Gosztonyia Matallanas, 2009 Gymnelopsis Soldatov, 1922 Gymnelus Reinhardt, 1834 Hadropareia Schmidt, 1904 Hadropogonichthys Schmidt, 1904 Iluocoetes Jenyns, 1842 Japonolycodes Shinohara, Sakurai & Machida, 2002 Krusensterniella Schmidt, 1904 Letholycus Anderson, 1988 Leucogrammolycus Mincarone & Anderson, 2008 Lycenchelys Gill, 1884 Lycodapus Gilbert, 1890

Lycodes Reinhardt, 1831 Lycodichthys Pappenheim, 1911 Lycodonus Goode & Bean, 1883 Lycogrammoides Soldatov & Lindberg, 1929 Lyconema Gilbert, 1896 Lycozoarces Popov, 1935 Magadanichthys Shinohara, Nazarkin, Yabe & Chereshnev, 2006 Maynea Cunningham, 1871 Melanostigma Günther, 1881 Nalbantichthys Schultz, 1967 Neozoarces Steindachner, 1880 Notolycodes Gosztonyi, 1977 Oidiphorus McAllister & Rees, 1964 Opaeophacus Bond & Stein, 1984 Ophthalmolycus Regan, 1913 Pachycara Zugmayer, 1911 Patagolycus Matallanas & Corbella, 2012 [3] Petroschmidtia Taranetz & Andriashev, 1934 [6] Phucocoetes Jenyns, 1842 Piedrabuenia Gosztonyi, 1977 Plesienchelys Anderson, 1988 Pogonolycus Norman, 1937 Puzanovia Fedorov, 1975 Pyrolycus Machida & Hashimoto, 2002 Santelmoa Matallanas, 2010 [5] Seleniolycus Anderson, 1988 Taranetzella Andriashev, 1952 Thermarces Rosenblatt & Cohen, 1986 Zoarces Cuvier, 1829 Zoarchias Jordan & Snyder, 1902

Timeline

References

1. Kawahara, R., Miya, M., Mabuchi, K., Lavoué, S., Inoue, J.G., Satoh, T.P., Kawaguchi, A. & Nishida, M. (2008). "Interrelationships of the 11 gasterosteiform families (sticklebacks, pipefishes, and their relatives): a new perspective based on whole mitogenome sequences from 75 higher teleosts". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46 (1): 224–36. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.07.009.
2. Bowen, S. Mardi Gras on ice. CNN Money. December 28, 2009.
3. Matallanas J., Corbella C. (2012). "Redescription of Iluocoetes Jenyns, 1842; proposal of a new genus, Argentinolycus, for Iluocoetes elongatus (Smitt, 1898), and description of Patagolycus melastomus gen. et sp. nov. (Teleostei, Zoarcidae)". Zootaxa 3296: 1–18.
4. Iglésias S.P., Dettai A., Ozouf-Costaz C. (2012). "Barbapellis pterygalces, new genus and new species of a singular eelpout (Zoarcidae: Teleostei) from the Antarctic deep waters". Polar Biology 35 (2): 215–220. doi:10.1007/s00300-011-1057-3.
5. Matallanas J (2010). "Description of two new genera, Santelmoa and Bentartia and two new species of Zoarcidae (Teleostei, Perciformes) from the Southern Ocean". Polar Biology 33 (5): 659–672. doi:10.1007/s00300-009-0742-y.
6. Nazarkin M.V., Shinohara G., Shirai S.M. (2014). "Phylogeny and taxonomy of Petroschmidtia teraoi (Katayama, 1943) (Osteichthyes: Perciformes: Zoarcidae)". Zootaxa 3780 (1): 171–193. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3780.1.7.