Snailfish
Encyclopedia
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. They are closely related to the sculpin
s 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 rattail
s. 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 in) to Polypera simushirae at some 77 centimetres (30.3 in) in length. The latter species may reach a weight of 11 kilograms (24.3 lb), but most species are toward the smaller end of this range. Snailfish are of no interest to commercial fisheries
.
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. Other species are found on muddy or silty bottoms of continental slopes. Snailfish are abundant in most (especially polar) waters and are highly resilient.
lay their eggs in the gill cavities of king crab
s.
s, mollusks, polychaete
worms, and other small invertebrate
s. Some species are also piscivorous. Specialist species such as Paraliparis rosaceus feed exclusively on sea cucumbers.
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
.
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...
marine fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
of the family Liparidae. Widely distributed from the Arctic
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
to Antarctic Oceans including the northern Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, the snailfish family contains 30 genera and 361 species. They are closely related to the sculpin
Sculpin
A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...
s 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
Tadpole
A tadpole or polliwog is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly that of a frog or toad.- Appellation :...
-like bodies are similar in profile to the rattail
Rattail
Grenadiers or rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the family Macrouridae...
s. 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
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
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 in) to Polypera simushirae at some 77 centimetres (30.3 in) in length. The latter species may reach a weight of 11 kilograms (24.3 lb), but most species are toward the smaller end of this range. Snailfish are of no interest to commercial fisheries
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
.
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 7500 metres (24,606.3 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 scallopScallop
A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...
Placopecten magellanicus. The kelp snailfish (Liparis tunicatus) lives amongst the kelp forests of the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
and the estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the St. Lawrence River. The single species in genus Rhodichthys is endemic to the Norwegian Sea. 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 CareproctusCareproctus
Careproctus is a genus of snailfishes. There are currently 111 described species found in benthic and benthopelagic habitats in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
lay their eggs in the gill cavities of king crab
King crab
King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.King...
s.
Diet
The diet of snailfish consists primarily of small benthic crustaceanCrustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, mollusks, polychaete
Polychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
worms, and other small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. 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)
- Allocareproctus jordani
- CareproctusCareproctusCareproctus is a genus of snailfishes. There are currently 111 described species found in benthic and benthopelagic habitats in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
(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 pallidusCareproctus pallidusCareproctus pallidus is a species of snailfish found around Tierra del Fuego in the far south of South America.This is an unusual fish compared to its congeners. Most Careproctus species are found in deep water but this is a fish of shallow coastal waters...
- 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)
- Eutelichthys leptochirus
- Genioliparis (Andriashev & Neyelov, 1976)
- Genioliparis lindbergi
- Gyrinichthys (Gilbert, 1896)
- Gyrinichthys minytremus
- 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)
- Lipariscus nanus
- Lopholiparis
- Lopholiparis flerxi
- Nectoliparis (Gilbert & Burke, 1912)
- Nectoliparis pelagicus
- NotoliparisNotoliparisNotoliparis is a small genus of snailfishes, currently with four described species.-Species:*Notoliparis antonbruuni*Notoliparis kermadecensis*Notoliparis kurchatovi*Notoliparis macquariensis-References:*]]...
(Andriashev, 1975)- Notoliparis antonbruuniNotoliparis antonbruuniNotoliparis antonbruuni is a species of snailfish. It was described in 2005 from a single poorly-preserved specimen collected in 1966 from the hadal zone off Callao, Peru....
- Notoliparis kermadecensisNotoliparis kermadecensisNotoliparis kermadecensis is a species of snailfish that lives in the deep sea....
- Notoliparis kurchatovi
- Notoliparis macquariensis
- Notoliparis antonbruuni
- Osteodiscus (Stein, 1978)
- Osteodiscus andriashevi
- Osteodiscus cascadiae
- Palmoliparis (Balushkin, 1996)
- Palmoliparis beckeri
- ParaliparisParaliparisParaliparis is a genus of snailfishes. There are currently 112 described species found in benthic, benthopelagic and pelagic habitats in all the world's oceans....
(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 carlbondiParaliparis carlbondiParaliparis carlbondi is a species of snailfish. It was described in 2005 from two specimens collected in 1966 off the coast of Peru.This fish, standard length up to 110 mm, is most similar to Paraliparis merodontus but differs most notably by having teeth in both jaws rather than just in the lower...
- 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 membranaceusParaliparis membranaceusParaliparis membranaceus is a species of snailfish only known from a single specimen of 57 mm standard length collected in Sarmiento Channel in the fjordlands of southern Chile....
- Paraliparis mento
- Paraliparis meridionalis
- Paraliparis merodontus
- Paraliparis micrurus
- Paraliparis molinai
- Paraliparis monoporus
- Paraliparis neelovi
- Paraliparis operculosus
- Paraliparis pectoralis
- Paraliparis regina
- Paraliparis rosaceus
- Paraliparis skeliphrusParaliparis skeliphrusParaliparis skeliphrus is a species of snailfish. It was described in 2005 from a single poorly-preserved specimen of 71 mm standard length collected in 1966 off the Chilean coast near Antofagasta....
- 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)
- Polypera simushirae
- Praematoliparis (Andriashev, 2003)
- Praematoliparis anarthractae
- Prognatholiparis (Orr & Busby, 2001)
- Prognatholiparis ptychomandibularis
- PsednosPsednosPsednos is a genus of snailfishes. There are currently 26 described species, with examples found in all the world's oceans.Fish of this genus are similar to those of Paraliparis but Psednos species have a distinctively curved spine, giving them a "humpbacked" appearance.-Species:Species...
(Barnard, 1927)- Psednos christinae
- Pseudoliparis (Andriashev, 1955)
- Pseudoliparis amblystomopsisPseudoliparis amblystomopsisThe hadal snailfish, Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis is a species of snailfish, described by Anatoly Petrovich Andriashev in 1955.In October 2008, a team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab and the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute discovered a shoal of P....
- Pseudoliparis belyaevi
- Pseudonotoliparis rassi
- Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis
- Pseudonotoliparis (Pitruk, 1991)
- Pseudonotoliparis rassi
- Rhinoliparis (Gilbert, 1896)
- Rhinoliparis attenuatus
- Rhinoliparis barbulifer
- Rhodichthys (Collett, 1879)
-
- Rhodichthys regina
- Squaloliparis (Pitruk & Fedorov, 1993)
- Squaloliparis dentatus
- Temnocora (Burke, 1930)
- Temnocora candida
In October 2008, a UK-Japan team discovered a shoal of Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis
Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis
The hadal snailfish, Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis is a species of snailfish, described by Anatoly Petrovich Andriashev in 1955.In October 2008, a team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab and the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute discovered a shoal of P....
at a depth of 7.7 km (4.8 mi) in the Japan Trench
Japan Trench
__notoc__The Japan Trench is an oceanic trench, a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, in the floor of the northern Pacific Ocean off northeast Japan. It extends from the Kuril Islands to the Bonin Islands and is at its deepest. It is an extension of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench to the north and the...
.