The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel

Eel

Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...

-like in appearance, with elongate bodies, and the dorsal

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

 and anal fins continuous with the caudal fin. All of the approximately 220 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are marine

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...

, mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. They are sometimes called "fish doctors" (not to be confused with the doctorfish or surgeon fishes).

They are traditionally placed in the "perciform" assemblage; in fact, the Zoarcoidei

Zoarcoidei

Zoarcoidei is a suborder of the Perciformes, the largest order of fish. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts....

 seem to be specialized member of the Gasterosteiformes

Gasterosteiformes

Gasterosteiformes is an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the sticklebacks and relatives.In the Gasterosteiformes, the pelvic girdle is never attached to the cleithra directly, and the supramaxillary, orbitosphenoid, and basisphenoid bones are absent. The body is often partly or completely...

-Scorpaeniformes

Scorpaeniformes

Scorpaeniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, but it has also been called the Scleroparei.They are known as "mail-cheeked" fishes due to their distinguishing characteristic, the suborbital stay: a backwards extension of the third circumorbital bone across the cheek to the preoperculum, to which...

 group of Acanthopterygii

Acanthopterygii

Acanthopterygii is a superorder of bony fishes in the class Actinopterygii. Members of this superorder are also known as the ray-finned fishes for the characteristic sharp, bony rays in their fins; however this name is also often given to the class Actinopterygii as a whole.Orders:* Order...

.

The largest member of the family is the Ocean Pout

Ocean pout

The ocean pout is an eelpout in the family Zoarcidae. It is found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of New England and eastern Canada...

 (Zoarces americanus), which may reach 1.1 meter. Other notable family members include the slipskins (Lycodapus) and unernaks (Gymnelus).

Popular culture

The International Eelpout Festival that takes place in February near Walker, Minnesota, celebrates the burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

, which is actually a cod-like fish misleadingly known locally as the eelpout.
Photographs

Genera and selected species