Liparis tunicatus, or the kelp snailfish, is a species of snailfish from the genus Liparis.[1] It can be found in marine, demersal waters at a depth range from 0 to 620 m (0–2,034 ft).[1] The kelp snailfish lives in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic Ocean among kelp.[1] The species is common, at least around Greenland and Franz Josef Land.[2][3] A bottom feeder, it eats small crustaceans.[1] At Franz Josef Land, it spawns in March at a depth of 6–25 m (20–82 ft), with the egg clusters attached to kelp.[2]
| Liparis tunicatus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Liparidae |
| Genus: | Liparis |
| Species: | L. tunicatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Liparis tunicatus J. C. H. Reinhardt, 1836[1]
| |
The kelp snailfish is among the northernmost living species in its family, together with species like Liparis bathyarcticus and L. fabricii.[2]
Description
editThe fish grows to a maximum total length of about 16.5 cm (6.5 in).[2] It has small dark spots and can have pale stripes.[4] Liparis tunicatus has a small gill opening.[4] It is sometimes confused with juveniles of the related L. gibbus.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Liparis tunicatus". FishBase. November 2014 version.
- ^ a b c d Chernova, N.V.; Friedlander, A.M.; Turchik, A.; Sala, E. (2014). "Franz Josef Land: extreme northern outpost for Arctic fishes". PeerJ. 2: e692. doi:10.7717/peerj.692. PMC 4266852. PMID 25538869.
- ^ a b Møller, P.R.; Nielsen, J.; Knudsen, S.W.; Poulsen, J.Y.; Sünksen, K.; Jørgensen, O.A. (2010). "A checklist of the fish fauna of Greenland waters". Zootaxa. 2378 (1): 1–84.
- ^ a b C. Richard Robins; G. Carleton Ray (1 March 1999). A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes: North America. Houghton Mifflin. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-395-97515-2.
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