The cuskpout (''Derepodichthys alepidotus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only species in the

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

''Derepodichthys'' and is found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

The cuskpout 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, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as off

Queen Charlotte Island Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...

in British Columbia. Gilbert placed his new species in a new

''Derepodichthys''. It was originally considered to be a taxonomically unique species and was classified in the monotypic family Derepodichthyidae, which was thought to be intermediate between the eelpouts and the cusk eels in the family Ophidiidae. It was only known from the holotype but further specimens were collected between the 1960s and 1980s which allowed it to be redescribed by

M. Eric Anderson ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...

and

Carl Leavitt Hubbs Carl Leavitt Hubbs (October 19, 1894 – June 30, 1979) was an American ichthyologist. Biography Youth He was born in Williams, Arizona. He was the son of Charles Leavitt and Elizabeth (née Goss) Hubbs. His father had a wide variety of jobs (f ...

who reclassified this taxon as '' incertae sedis'' within the Zoarcidae. Its position in the Zoarcidae was later determined to be 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 subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Lycodinae.

Etymology

The cuskpout's genus name is a combination of ''dere'', which means "neck" or "throat", with "pous", meaning "foot," an allusions to the pelcic fins being reduced to a thin, unbranched filament, both starting from a base which juts out and which is situated well forward, underneath the eye, and this is suffixed with ''ichthys'', meaning "fish". 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 ...

, ''alepidotus'' prefixes ''a'', meaning "without", on ''lepidotus'' which means "scaly", alluding to scaleless body which also lacks 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 epithelial ...

Distribution and habitat

The cuskpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia south to central California. 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 found at depths between .

Biology

The cuskpout has soft, gelatinous flesh and a fragile skeleton and these features are though to mean that it is not a fish that burrows into the sediment. Instead, it is likely that it swims close to the substrate using its long pelvic fins to search the sediment for prey. In the examination of the contents of two stomachs the diet was found to be dominated by polychaetes. They would appear to have a low fecundity with females carrying around 25 large orange eggs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1097107, from2= Q2519601 Lycodinae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert