The snubnose eelpout (''Pachycara bulbiceps'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 hor ...

belonging to the

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 ...

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

, the

eelpout 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 ...

s. This species is found in the deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Taxonomy

The snubnose eelpout was first formally described as ''Maynea bulbiceps'' in 1899 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 ...

Samuel Garman Samuel Walton Garman (June 5, 1843 – September 30, 1927), or "Garmann" as he sometimes styled himself, was a naturalist/zoologist from Pennsylvania. He became noted as an ichthyologist and herpetologist. Biography Garman was born in Indian ...

with its type locality given as east of

Cocos Island Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarenas ...

off

Panama Bay The Panama Bay ( es, Bahia de Panamá) is a large body of water off the coast of southern Panama, at . It is a part of the greater Gulf of Panama. Pollution Problems The Panama Bay is considered to be in an eutrophic state by the World Resources ...

. In 1911

Erich Zugmayer Erich Johann Georg Zugmayer (16 May 1879, Vienna – 13 February 1938) was an Austrian zoologist and ichthyologist who worked in the Austrian foreign ministry. He collected extensively in Asia where he went on several expeditions including Wester ...

described a new species, ''Pachycara obesa'', from the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

which he classified within 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 ...

Pachycara ''Pachycara'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 29 recognized species in t ...

''. In 1988 Zugmayer's species was shown to be a synonym of Garman's ''M. bulbiceps'', meaning that as ''P. obesa'' this species is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Pachycara''.

Description

The snubnose eelpout has a moderately elongated body which has a depth at the origin of 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 ...

equivalent to between 5.7% and 12.7% of its

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

. The mouth is terminal and there are no

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 ...

s but the specimens the belly and eyes are blue. It has a bulb-shaped head, as indicated by the specific name ''bulbiceps''. It has no

s. This species attains a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and Habitat

The snubnose eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from British Columbia south to Chile; and in the Atlantic Ocean from the Bay of Biscay and off Cap Blanc in Mauritania. 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 ...

abyssal The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean. "Abyss" derives from the Greek word , meaning bottomless. At depths of , this zone remains in perpetual darkness. It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean an ...

species which occurs at depths of where there are muddy substrates.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1114407 Snubnose eelpout Fish described in 1899 Taxa named by Samuel Garman