Bearded eelpout

The bearded eelpout was first formally described in 1896 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as off central California.[1] Gilbert also described a new monospecific genus, Lyconema, when he described the bearded eelpout.[2] This taxon is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[3]

The bearded eelpout's genus name is a combination of lyco, in reference to Lycodes, meaning that this taxonm is similar to that one, but has its lower jaw furnishes with a dense mass of slender filaments or barbels, nema meaning thread. The specific name barbatum means "bearded" in another allusion to the filaments on the lower jaw.[4]

The bearded eelpout has 9 or 10 suborbital bones and a cephalic sensory canal with 9 pores. There are 2 parallel lines of cirri on the lower jaw and. in adults, these often extend back as far as the branchiostegal region. They have 2 fin rays in the pelvic fin. The body is covered in small scales, there are two small pyloric caecae and a lateral line. There are small on sexually dimorphic teeth in the jaws and there are vomerine teeth and palatine teeth.[5] This species attains a maximum published total length of 17 cm (6.7 in).[6]

The bearded eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from off southern Oregon south to central Baja California, Mexico. It is a demersal fish found at depths between 82 and 373 m (269 and 1,224 ft) over soft substrates consisting of mud or a mix of sand and mud.[6]