Lycodinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. These eelpouts are found are in all the world's oceans, with a number of species being found off southern South America.

Lycodinae
Lycodes vahlii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Zoarcoidei
Family: Zoarcidae
Subfamily: Lycodinae
Gill, 1861[1]
Genera[2]

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Taxonomy

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Lycodinae was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1861 by the American zoologist Theodore Gill.[1] The subfamily is classified within the eelpout family, Zoarcidae part of the suborder Zoarcoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes.[3] The name of the subfamily derives from its type genus, Lycodes, which means "wolf-like" and refers to the then presumed close relationship of that taxon to the wolffish.[4]

Genera

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Lycodinae contains the following genera:[5][6]

Characteristics

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Lycodinae eelpouts have elongate heads and bodies, they have between 58 and 144 vertebrae. The branchiostegal membranes are typically attached to the isthmus, although not in Lycodapus. Most have a wide bill slit but in some species it is more restricted. They do not usually possess a pore between the eyes. There are between 4 and 9 suborbital bones, typically, from 6 to 8, and these create an L-shaped pattern around the eyes. There are between 6 and 12 fin rays in the caudal fin. They have no spines in their fins, although in a few species there are pelvic fin rays which are fused into a pelvic splint.[5] The largest species is Lycodes soldatovi which has a maximum published fork length of 91 cm (36 in).[7]

Distribution

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Lycodinae eelpouts are found throughout the world with a notable radiation in the littoral to upper continental slope off southern South America.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  2. ^ "Lycodinae". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  3. ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 478–482. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  4. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (6 May 2022). "Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
  6. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  7. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Lycodes". FishBase. June 2022 version.