''Chionobathyscus dewitti'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. This species is found in the Southern Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Chionobathyscus'' was first described as a genus in 1978 by the

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

s Anatoly Petrovich Andriyashev and Alexei Vladimovich Neyelov when they were describing the only species in this genus ''Chionobathyscus dewitti'', the type of which had been collected in the Eastern Antarctic Ocean at 67°31'S, 33°05'W. The genus name is a compound of ''chionos'' which means "snow", although in this case this is alluding to the relationship of this taxon with the genus '' Chionodraco'', and ''bathyscus'' which means "inhabitant of the deep", a reference to the depths at which this species is found. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the American ichthyologist, marine biologist and oceanographer Hugh Hamilton DeWitt in recognition of his work on Antarctic fishes.

Description

''Chionobathyscus dewitti'' has a vestigial spine on the snout, really just a small knob. There are 3 or 4 branched spines on the operculum. There are 3

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

s which do not have bony plates. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

is elongated and has thickened skin at their tips. The first and second dorsal fins are clearly separated. Within the dorsal fin there are 5 or 6 spines and 39 or 40 soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 33 or 34 soft rays. They are an overall gray colour, paler centrally, with juveniles being a lighter colour than adults. There body is marked with 5 wide bars and the fins are pale except for the rear parts of the pectoral and caudal fins. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution, habitat and biology

Chionobathyscus dewitti is found in the Southern Ocean and is probably circum-Antarctic on the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

and slope. It is a

bathydemersal Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...

species with a depth range of . The adults feed largely on fishes krill. They have been caught in prespawning condition in February.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13470020 Channichthyidae Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1978 Taxa named by Anatoly Andriyashev Fish of the Southern Ocean