''Lycodonus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The species in this genus are found in the North and Southern Atlantic Ocean. These fishes are sometimes called scutepouts.

Taxonomy

''Lycodonus'' was first proposed as a

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 ...

in 1883 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 ...

s George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean when they described ''Lycodonus mirabilis'', its type locality being given as in the Atlantic Ocean at 38°20'08"N, 73°23'20"W at a depth of 740 fathoms (1,353.31m). This genus is classified in 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, one of four subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.

Etymology

''Lycodonus'' is made up of the genus name ''

Lycodes ''Lycodes'' is a genus of Zoarcidae, zoarcid fish in the subfamily (biology), subfamily Lycodinae. It is the most species-rich genus in its family (biology), taxonomic family as well as in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent waters. They occupy both sh ...

'', as these fishes bear a strong resemblance to the fishes in that genus, and adds a meaningless suffix, ''onus''.

Species

''Lycodonus'' contains the following species:

Characteristics

''Lycodonus'' eelpouts have between 7 and 9 suborbital bones with a sensory canal between 6 and 8 pores. The

pterygiophore 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 ...

s in both the dorsal and

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 ...

s have widened upper areas which form scutes at the base of these fins. They possess a

pseudobranch The pseudobranch, also pseudobranchia is the reduced first gill arch of a fish (on the inner surface of the opercle, near the junction of the preopercle) as well as a reduced "false" gill in some gastropods. In teleost fish, the pseudobranchs are m ...

, pyloric caeca,

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 ...

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 ...

and teeth on both the

vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) 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 maxill ...

ine and palatine. The smallest species is ''L. malvinensis'' with a maximum published total length of while the largest is ''L. mirabilis'' which has a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Lycodonus'' eelpouys are found in the Atlantic Ocean. The whiptail scutepout (''L. flagellicauda'') is found in the northeastern Atlantic and nearby Arctic Ocean while the chevron scutepout (''L. mirabilis'') is found in the northwestern Atlantic and adjacent Arctic Ocean. There are also 2 species in the South Atlantic, ''L. malvinensis'' in the southwestern Atlantic and ''L. vermiformis'' in the southeastern Atlantic, with the only known specimens being collected off Cape Point in South Africa. These fishes are bathydemersal being found at great depths, in subzero temperatures on muddy substrates.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2233003 Lycodinae Taxa named by George Brown Goode Taxa named by Tarleton Hoffman Bean