''Pholis'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pholidae, the gunnels. These fishes are found in shallow coastal waters of the North Pacific, Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Pholis'' was first proposed as a genus in 1777 by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli. The type species was later designated to be ''Blennius gunnellus'', which Linnaeus had described in 1758 in the 10th edition of the ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. The genus is the only genus in the monotypic

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 ...

Pholinae, one of two subfamilies in the family Pholidae. The genus name ''Pholis'' is an Ancient Greek name for a fish that hides in a hole, the name dating at least as far back in history to Aristotle.

Species

''Pholis'' contains 11 species:

Characteristics

Philos species have the elongate, compressed bodies of other gunnels. They differ on that there is no interorbital pore and that the head lacks scales or has small scales which are only present in larger adults. These fishes vary in maximum published total length varying from in ''P. nea'' and in ''P. picta''.

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Pholis'' gunnels are predominantly found in the temperate and boreal wasters of the North Pacific Ocean but ''P. fasciatus'' and ''P. gunnellus'' are found in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, the only gunnels to occur outside the Pacific Ocean. These fishes are found in rocky areas in the intertidal zone and in the shallow waters below the low tide mark. They feed on invertebrates and fish eggs. They are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

, laying eggs in a large mass which is guarded.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2704983 Pholidae Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli