Snubnose eelpout
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Genus: Pachycara
Species:
P. bulbiceps
Binomial name
Pachycara bulbiceps
(Garman, 1899)
Synonyms[2]
  • Maynea bulbiceps Garman, 1899
  • Pachycara obesum Zugmayer, 1911

The snubnose eelpout (Pachycara bulbiceps) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[3][4] This species is found in the deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Taxonomy

The snubnose eelpout was first formally described as Maynea bulbiceps in 1899 by the American ichthyologist Samuel Garman with its type locality given as east of Cocos Island off Panama Bay.[5] In 1911 Erich Zugmayer described a new species, Pachycara obesa, from the Bay of Biscay which he classified within the monospecific genus Pachycara.[6][5] In 1988 Zugmayer's species was shown to be a synonym of Garman's M. bulbiceps, meaning that as P. obesa this species is the type species of Pachycara.[7]

Description

The snubnose eelpout has a moderately elongated body which has a depth at the origin of the anal fin equivalent to between 5.7% and 12.7% of its standard length. The mouth is terminal and there are no pelvic fins but the pectoral fins are long, wide and rounded and have between 16 and 19 fin rays. The body before the anus is around two fifths of the standard length. There is a lateral line running along the middle of the flanks from behind the edge of the pectoral fin. There are no scales on the nape. It is a uniform dark brown colour with the head and most of pectoral fins being darker. In fresh specimens the belly and eyes are blue.[8] It has a bulb-shaped head, as indicated by the specific name bulbiceps.[9] It has no pelvic fins.[10] This species attains a maximum published total length of 51.5 cm (20.3 in).[2]

Distribution and Habitat

The snubnose eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from British Columbia south to Chile;[5] and in the Atlantic Ocean from the Bay of Biscay and off Cap Blanc in Mauritania.[2] It is a bathydemersal, abyssal species which occurs at depths of 2,400 to 4,780 m (7,870 to 15,680 ft) where there are muddy substrates.[2]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pachycara bulbiceps.
  1. ↑ Iwamoto, T. (2015). "Pachycara bulbiceps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T18180983A42691819. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T18180983A42691819.en. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Pachycara bulbiceps" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
  3. ↑ "California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports". Marine Research Committee. July 12, 2010 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Proceedings: Biological sciences". Royal Society of London. July 12, 1998 – via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 3 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Pachycara". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  6. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  7. ↑ M. Eric Anderson and Alex E. Peden. "The eelpout genus Pachycara (Teleostei: Zoarcidae) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, with descriptions of two new species". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4. 46 (3): 83–94.
  8. ↑ "Marine Species Identification Portal : Pachycara bulbiceps". species-identification.org.
  9. ↑ "Resource Inventory of Marine and Estuarine Fishes of the West Coast and Alaska: A Checklist of North Pacific and Arctic Ocean Species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon Border". U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, National Biological Information Infrastructure. July 12, 2005 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Welsh, Hartwel H. (July 12, 1988). "An Ecogeographic Analysis of the Herpetofauna of the Sierra San Pedro Martir Region, Baja California: With a Contribution to the Biogeography of the Baja California Herpetofauna". California Academy of Sciences – via Google Books.
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