Snailfish
Snailfish are scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Liparidae. Widely distributed from the Arctic to Antarctic Oceans including the northern Pacific, the snailfish family contains 30 genera and 361 species.[1] They are closely related to the sculpins of the family Cottidae and the lumpfish of the family Cyclopteridae. Snailfish are sometimes included within the latter family.
The snailfish family is poorly studied and few specifics are known. Their elongate, tadpole-like bodies are similar in profile to the rattails. Their heads are large with small eyes; their bodies are slender to deep, tapering to a very small tail. The extensive dorsal and anal fins may merge or nearly merge with the tail fin. Snailfish are scaleless with a thin, loose gelatinous skin; some species, such as the spiny snailfish (Acantholiparis opercularis) have prickly spines as well. Their teeth are small and simple with blunt cusps. The deep-sea species have prominent, well-developed sensory pores of the head, part of the animals' lateral line system.
The pectoral fins are large and provide the snailfish with its primary means of locomotion. They are benthic fish with pelvic fins modified to form an adhesive disc; this nearly circular disc is absent in Paraliparis and Nectoliparis species. Snailfish range in size from Paraliparis australis at 5 centimetres (2.0 in) to Polypera simushirae at some 77 centimetres (30 in) in length. The latter species may reach a weight of 11 kilograms (24 lb), but most species are toward the smaller end of this range. Snailfish are of no interest to commercial fisheries.
Occurrence and habitat
The habitats chosen by snailfish are as widely variable as their size; they are found in both shallow intertidal zones and at depths of 7,500 metres (24,600 ft) or more, in both cold and warm waters. The diminutive inquiline snailfish (Liparis inquilinus) of the northwestern Atlantic is known to live out its life inside the mantle cavity of the scallop Placopecten magellanicus. The kelp snailfish (Liparis tunicatus) lives amongst the kelp forests of the Bering Strait and the estuary of the St. Lawrence River. The single species in genus Rhodichthys is endemic to the Norwegian Sea.[2] Other species are found on muddy or silty bottoms of continental slopes. Snailfish are abundant in most (especially polar) waters and are highly resilient.
Reproduction
Reproductive strategies are also known to vary among the species. At least one species, the abyssal snailfish (Careproctus ovigerum) of the North Pacific, is known to practice mouth brooding; that is, the male of the species carries the developing eggs around in his mouth. All species are known to lay a small number (c. 300) of relatively large eggs (4.5–8 mm in diameter). Other species of the genus Careproctus lay their eggs in the gill cavities of king crabs.
Diet
The diet of snailfish consists primarily of small benthic crustaceans, mollusks, polychaete worms, and other small invertebrates. Some species are also piscivorous. Specialist species such as Paraliparis rosaceus feed exclusively on sea cucumbers.
Species
Species include:
- Acantholiparis (Gilbert & Burke, 1912)
- Acantholiparis caecus
- Acantholiparis opercularis
- Allocareproctus (Pitruk & Fedorov, 1993)
- Careproctus (Krøyer, 1862)
- Careproctus abbreviatus
- Careproctus acaecus
- Careproctus acanthodes
- Careproctus aculeolatus
- Careproctus albescens
- Careproctus armatus
- Careproctus atrans
- Careproctus attenuatus
- Careproctus aureomarginatus
- Careproctus bathycoetus
- Careproctus batialis
- Careproctus bowersianus
- Careproctus burkei
- Careproctus cactiformis
- Careproctus candidus
- Careproctus colletti
- Careproctus continentalis
- Careproctus credispinulosus
- Careproctus curilanus
- Careproctus cyclocephalus
- Careproctus cypseluroides
- Careproctus cypselurus
- Careproctus entargyreus
- Careproctus entomelas
- Careproctus falklandicus
- Careproctus furcatus
- Careproctus furcellus
- Careproctus georgianus
- Careproctus gilberti
- Careproctus griseldea
- Careproctus herwigi
- Careproctus homopterus
- Careproctus hyaleius
- Careproctus jordani
- Careproctus longifilis
- Careproctus longipectoralis
- Careproctus longipinnis
- Careproctus macranchus
- Careproctus macrodiscus
- Careproctus marginatus
- Careproctus mederi
- Careproctus melanuroides
- Careproctus melanurus
- Careproctus merretti
- Careproctus micropus
- Careproctus nigricans
- Careproctus novaezelandiae
- Careproctus opisthotremus
- Careproctus ostentum
- Careproctus ovigerum
- Careproctus pallidus
- Careproctus parini
- Careproctus phasma
- Careproctus polarsterni
- Careproctus profundicola
- Careproctus pycnosoma
- Careproctus ranula
- Careproctus rastrinoides
- Careproctus rastrinus
- Careproctus reinhardti
- Careproctus rhodomelas
- Careproctus roseofuscus
- Careproctus rutilus
- Careproctus sarasa
- Careproctus scottae
- Careproctus segaliensis
- Careproctus seraphimae
- Careproctus simus
- Careproctus sinensis
- Careproctus smirmovi
- Careproctus spectrum
- Careproctus steini
- Careproctus trachysoma
- Crystallichthys (Jordan & Gilbert in Jordan & Evermann, 1898)
- Crystallichthys cyclospilus
- Crystallichthys matsushimae
- Crystallichthys mirabilis
- Edentoliparis (Andriashev, 1990)
- Edentoliparis terraenovae
- Eknomoliparis (Stein, Meléndez C. & Kong U., 1991)
- Eknomoliparis chirichignoae
- Elassodiscus (Gilbert & Burke, 1912)
- Elassodiscus caudatus
- Elassodiscus tremebundus
- Elassodiscus obscurus
- Eutelichthys (Tortonese, 1959)
- Genioliparis (Andriashev & Neyelov, 1976)
- Gyrinichthys (Gilbert, 1896)
- Liparis (Scopoli, 1777)
- Liparis kusnetzovi
- Liparis agassizii
- Liparis alboventer
- Liparis antarctica
- Liparis atlanticus
- Liparis beringianus
- Liparis bikunin
- Liparis bristolensis
- Liparis burkei
- Liparis callyodon
- Liparis catharus
- Liparis chefuensis
- Liparis coheni
- Liparis curilensis
- Liparis cyclopus
- Liparis dennyi
- Liparis dubius
- Liparis dulkeiti
- Liparis eos
- Liparis fabricii
- Liparis alboventer
- Liparis fishelsoni
- Liparis florae
- Liparis frenatus
- Liparis fucensis
- Liparis gibbus
- Liparis greeni
- Liparis herschelinus
- Liparis inquilinus
- Liparis koefoedi
- Liparis latifrons
- Liparis liparis
- Liparis maculatus
- Liparis magacephalus
- Liparis marmoratus
- Liparis megacephalus
- Liparis micraspidophorus
- Liparis miostomus
- Liparis montagui
- Liparis mucosus
- Liparis newmani
- Liparis niger
- Liparis ochotensis
- Liparis owstoni
- Liparis petschiliensis
- Liparis pravdini
- Liparis pulchellus
- Liparis punctulatus
- Liparis rutteri
- Liparis schantarensis
- Liparis takashimensis
- Liparis tanakai
- Liparis tessellatus
- Liparis tunicatus
- Lipariscus (Gilbert, 1915)
- Lopholiparis
- Nectoliparis (Gilbert & Burke, 1912)
- Notoliparis (Andriashev, 1975)
- Osteodiscus (Stein, 1978)
- Osteodiscus andriashevi
- Osteodiscus cascadiae
- Palmoliparis (Balushkin, 1996)
- Paraliparis (Collett, 1879)
- Paraliparis albeolus
- Paraliparis albescens
- Paraliparis anarthractae
- Paraliparis andriashevi
- Paraliparis antarcticus
- Paraliparis aspersus
- Paraliparis atramentatus
- Paraliparis australis
- Paraliparis bathybii
- Paraliparis bathybius
- Paraliparis bipolaris
- Paraliparis calidus
- Paraliparis carlbondi
- Paraliparis cephalus
- Paraliparis cerasinus
- Paraliparis challengeri
- Paraliparis charcoti
- Paraliparis copei copei
- Paraliparis copei gibbericeps
- Paraliparis copei kerguelensis
- Paraliparis dactyloides
- Paraliparis dactylosus
- Paraliparis deani
- Paraliparis debueni
- Paraliparis devriesi
- Paraliparis diploprora
- Paraliparis dipterus
- Paraliparis duhameli
- Paraliparis edwardsi
- Paraliparis eltanini
- Paraliparis entochloris
- Paraliparis fuscolingua
- Paraliparis garmani
- Paraliparis gracilis
- Paraliparis grandis
- Paraliparis holomelas
- Paraliparis hystrix
- Paraliparis incognita
- Paraliparis kerguelensis
- Paraliparis kreffti
- Paraliparis latifrons
- Paraliparis leobergi
- Paraliparis leptochirus
- Paraliparis leucogaster
- Paraliparis leucoglossus
- Paraliparis liparina
- Paraliparis mandibularis
- Paraliparis mawsoni
- Paraliparis meganchus
- Paraliparis melanobranchus
- Paraliparis membranaceus
- Paraliparis mento
- Paraliparis meridionalis
- Paraliparis merodontus
- Paraliparis micrurus
- Paraliparis molinai
- Paraliparis monoporus
- Paraliparis neelovi
- Paraliparis operculosus
- Paraliparis pectoralis
- Paraliparis regina
- Paraliparis rosaceus
- Paraliparis skeliphrus
- Paraliparis somovi
- Paraliparis stehmanni
- Paraliparis tetrapteryx
- Paraliparis thalassobathyalis
- Paraliparis tompkinsae
- Paraliparis trilobodon
- Paraliparis trunovi
- Paraliparis ulochir
- Paraliparis valentinae
- Paraliparis violaceus
- Paraliparis wilsoni
- Polypera (Burke, 1912)
- Praematoliparis (Andriashev, 2003)
- Praematoliparis anarthractae
- Prognatholiparis (Orr & Busby, 2001)
- Prognatholiparis ptychomandibularis
- Psednos (Barnard, 1927)
- Pseudoliparis (Andriashev, 1955)
- Pseudonotoliparis (Pitruk, 1991)
- Rhinoliparis (Gilbert, 1896)
- Rhinoliparis attenuatus
- Rhinoliparis barbulifer
- Rhodichthys (Collett, 1879)
-
- Squaloliparis (Pitruk & Fedorov, 1993)
- Temnocora (Burke, 1930)
In October 2008, a UK-Japan team discovered a shoal of Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis at a depth of 7.7 km (4.8 mi) in the Japan Trench.[3]
References
External links