The Hemitripterinae is a

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 ...

of the

scorpaeniform The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320. They are ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Agonidae Agonidae is a family of small, bottom-dwelling, cold-water marine fish. Common names for members of this family include poachers, Irish lords, sea ravens, alligatorfishes, starsnouts, hooknoses, and rockheads. They are notable for having elongate ...

, known as sea ravens or sailfin sculpins. They are bottom-dwelling fish that feed on small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, found in the northwest

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and north

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Oceans. They are covered in small spines (modified scales).

Taxonomy

The sea raven subfamily Hemitripterinae, was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1872 by the American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histor ...

. It has been treated as a family, the Hemitripteridae, within the

Cottoidea A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand a ...

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

but phylogentic analyses in the 21st Century place the grouping within the family Agonidae.

Genera

The following three genera are classified within the subfamily Hemitripterinae:

Characteristics

Hemitripterinae species are called sea ravens because early zoologists posited that their large pectoral fins may be used to fly in the air. Another name is sailfin sculpins, referring to their tall

dorsal fins A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

, in particular the very tall first dorsal fin of ''

Nautichthys oculofasciatus The sailfin sculpin (''Nautichthys oculofasciatus'', lit. "eye-banded sailor fish") is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Hemitripterinae of the family Agonidae. This sculpin is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from ...

''. Their head and body are clothed with tiny “prickles”, these being modified, platelike scales each having one spine whic is covered in skin. The frontoparietal ridge is knobby. The

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

has 3 or 4 spines which are mainly blunt and covered in skin. There are two dorsal fins, the first is supported by between 6 and 19 spines, the second by 11 to 30 soft rays. there are between 11 and 22 soft rays supporting 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 ...

and the

pectoral 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 ...

has a single spine and 3 soft rays. The lateral line canal is complete and contains more than 35 pores. They have botrh vomerine and palatine teeth. The gill membrane has a wide attachment to the isthmus and forms a fold across the throat. They do not have a swim bladder, In some species the males have external genital papilla. They have bands and other markings but the coloration can vary with habitat. They vary in maximum size from a total length of in the shortmast sculpin (''Nautichthys robustus'') to around in the bigmouth sculpin">shortmast_sculpin.html" ;"title="total length of in the shortmast sculpin">total length of in the shortmast sculpin (''Nautichthys robustus'') to around in the bigmouth sculpin (''Hemitripterus bolini'').

Distribution and habitat

Hemitripterinae sculpins are mainly found in the North Pacific Ocean, with a single species, the sea raven (''Hemitripterus americanus'') being found in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. They are marine, demersal fishes fround from the intertidal zone down to in excess of , although the majority of then are found in less than . 200 m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1966392 Hemitripterinae Agonidae Taxa named by Theodore Gill Ray-finned fish subfamilies