Systematics and Osteology of the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)

• Main Author: Anderson, M Eric
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Rhodes University 1994
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:15033; http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019910

The eelpouts, Zoarcidae, are a group of perciform fishes, most species of which inhabit continental shelves and slopes of boreal seas. There are about 220 valid species of eelpouts; most are rare, deep-sea forms and the systematics and biology of the group has been neglected by most workers. This work is a contribution to the improvement of that state. The anatomy of the Zoarcidae was studied in an attempt to reconstruct phylogeny and establish generic limits. From an analysis of a matrix of 76 characters, the 45 genera recognised here form 4 subfamilies. The Lycozoarcinae contains only the primitive Lycozoarces hubbsi. The others, Zoarcinae, Gymnelinae, and Lycodinae, for the most part, include genera recognised in previous classifications (Gill, 1862, 1864; Andriashev, 1939). The more primitive zoarcids are characterised by having 4-6 suborbital bones arranged in a circular pattern close to the orbit, and “complete” cephalic lateralis pore patterns, except some of the few deep-sea forms. The more derived zoarcids are characterized by having 6-11 suborbital bones arranged in an angled, or “L”-shaped" pattern away from the orbit (except a few which have lost some bones) and the loss of the interorbital pores (except for some reversals in Lycenchelys and Lycodapus). Zoarcids are considered to have originated in the North Pacific Ocean, perhaps as early as the Eocene, when a pre-percoid radiation occurred. The suborder Zoarcoidei (today some 8-9 families) spread across the Pacific rim. Among Zoarcidae, a pre-Miocene radiation took place along the western coasts of the Americas, with areas of endemism forming in the Magellan Province of South America and Antarctica. Subsequent spreading back into northern waters occurred in Melanostigma and Pachycara. Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)