''Lycozoarces'' is a monospecific genus of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

belonging to the

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

Zoarcidae The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance. All of the roughly 300 species are marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. Eelpouts are predominantly ...

, the eelpouts, its only species being ''Lycozoarces regani''. It is the only genus in the

monogeneric 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 ...

subfamily Lycozoarinae. This taxon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Tatar Strait in the northern

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

Taxonomy

''Lycozoarces'' was first proposed as a genus in 1935 by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

ichthyologist Alexander Mikhailovich Popov, although he had used the name in 1933 when he gave a short

description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narra ...

and illustration of ''L. regani'' from the Strait of Tartary but not enough of a combined description to satisfy the ICZN. In 1935 he described ''L. hubbsi'' and described ''Lycozoarces'' as a new genus despite having used it in 1933. Under the ICZN Popov's first use of the generic name means that it was a '' nomen nudum'', although that did not prevent him using it in 1935 for ''L. hubbsi'', but as ''L regani'' is an older name than ''L. hubbsi'' then the that name is a junior synonym of ''L. regani'', and ''L. hubbsi'' seems to have been applied to male specimens of this sexually dimorphic species. ''Lycozoarces'' is the only genus classified within the subfamily Lycozoarcinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae.

Etymology

''Lycozoarces'' is likely a combination of ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Zoarces ''Zoarces'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family (biology), family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only genus in the subfamily Zoarcinae. These eelpouts are found in the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans. ...

'' as this taxon shows features intermediate between those taxa, and the subfamilies named after then,

Lycodinae Lycodinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the 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. Taxonomy Lycodinae was f ...

and

Zoarcinae ''Zoarces'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only genus in the subfamily Zoarcinae. These eelpouts are found in the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Zoarc ...

. The specific name honours

Charles Tate Regan Charles Tate Regan FRS (1 February 1878 – 12 January 1943) was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes. Born in Sherborne, Dorset, he was educat ...

, the English ichthyologist of the

British Museum (Natural History) The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

, who in 1913 had described a number of Antarctic eelpouts.

Characteristics

''Lycozoarces'' is distinguished from all the other eelpouts by having pelvic fins and a branchiostegal membrane which has a wide joint and creates a fold over the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

. They have a relatively robust body and tail, an interorbital pore, the

caudal 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 13 to 15 fin rays and the 5 or 6 suborbital bones form a semicircle around the eye. There are no fin spines and ''L. regani'' shows marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

. The males have longer

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

and

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

fin rays, a longer upper jaw and are darker in colour. The maximum published standard length for L. regani is .

Distribution and habitat

''Lycozoarces'' is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in the Sea of Okhtosk and the northern Sea of Japan. It is a demersal fish found at depths of between .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2740754, from2=Q1109748, from3=Q21223293 Zoarcidae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera