The bearded eelpout (''Lyconema barbatum'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. This species is the only species in the monospecific genus ''Lyconema''. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

The bearded eelpout was first formally described in 1896 by the American

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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...

with its type locality given as off central

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Gilbert also described a new monospecific genus, ''Lyconema'', when he described the bearded eelpout. This taxon is classified within the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Lycodinae Lycodinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. These eelpouts are found are in all the world's oceans, with a number of species being found off southern South America. Taxono ...

, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.

Etymology

The bearded eelpout's genus name is a combination of ''lyco'', in reference to ''

Lycodes ''Lycodes'' is a genus of zoarcid fish in the subfamily Lycodinae. It is the most species-rich genus in its taxonomic family as well as in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent waters. They occupy both shallow waters and deeper waters down to 3000 mete ...

'', 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.

Description

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 Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

. The body is covered in small scales, there are two small pyloric caecae and a

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 epithelia ...

. There are small on sexually dimorphic teeth in the jaws and there are

vomerine teeth The vomer (; ) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones. The vomer forms t ...

and palatine teeth. This species attains a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

The bearded eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from off southern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

south to central

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

, Mexico. It is a demersal fish found at depths between over soft substrates consisting of mud or a mix of sand and mud.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q2654440, from2= Q1110280 Lycodinae Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert