Zoarces

Zoarces is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only genus in the subfamily Zoarcinae. These eelpouts are found in the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans.

Zoarces
Temporal range: Pleistocene to Present[1]
Zoarces viviparus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Subfamily: Zoarcinae
Swainson, 1839[2]
Genus: Zoarces
Cuvier, 1829
Type species
Blennius viviparus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text.

Synonyms

Macrozoarces Gill, 1863

Taxonomy

Zoarces was first proposed as a genus in 1829 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier. Blennius viviparus, which had been described in 1758 by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae from "European seas". was subsequently designated as the type species.[3][4] Zoarces is the only genus classified within the subfamily Zoarcinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae.[5]

Etymology

Zoarces means "viviparous", i.e. giving birth to live young, however these fishes are ovoviviparous.[6]

Species

Zoarces contains the following species:[7]

Characteristics

Zoarces eelpouts are characterised by having an elongated body and tail with between 101 and 1456 vertebrae, each with a single epural which has two rays. The branchiostegal membrane is joined to the isthmus. They have an interorbital pore. The caudal fin contains between 9 and 11 fin rays. There are 6 suborbital bones form a semicircle around the eye. There are sharp, stiff spines at the rear of the dorsal fin, although infrequently this is absent in one species.[5] The largest species is the ocean pout which has reached a maximum published total length of 110 cm (43 in), the largest of the Zoarcids, while the smallest is the Z. fedorovi with a maximum published total length of 31.5 cm (12.4 in).[7]

Distribution and habitat

Zoarces eelpouts are found in the northern Pacific Ocean and northern Atlantic Ocean, They are found from the sublittoral zone and continental shelf down to depths of 300 m (980 ft),[5] some even enter brackish water when spawning in the winter.[9]

References
  1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  2. 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.
  3. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Zoarciinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Zoarces". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
  6. 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 22 November 2022.
  7. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Zoarces in FishBase. June 2022 version.
  8. Chereshnev, Nazarkin & Chegodayeva (2007). "Zoarces fedorovi sp. nova (Perciformes: Zoarcidae), a new species of eelpout from the Tauyskaya Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk". Voprosy Ikhtiologii. 47 (5): 589–600.
  9. M. Eric Anderson (1994). "Systematics and Osteology of the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 60.
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