Eel nuts
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| Swainson , 1839 |
The family of the eel mother (Zoarcidae) or gesture fish is a family of eel mother relatives that occurs in all oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic . Most of the nearly 260 species live in the northern Pacific . There are several endemic genera there . Three species live on the coasts of Northern Europe, Sars wolffish ( Lycenchelys sarsi ) and Vahls wolffish ( Lycodes vahli ) on the coasts of Norway and Iceland , the eel mother ( Zoarces viviparus ) also in the entire North and Baltic Seas .
Three species of the genus Zoarces are ovoviviparous , the rest are oviparous . Some species practice brood care .
features
The body of the fish is elongated, the mouth terminal or below. The dorsal fin , caudal fin and anal fin have grown together to form a continuous fin edge. The pelvic fins are absent or stunted; if present, they stand in front of the pectoral fins . Scales are very small, overgrown with skin, or absent. There is no swim bladder. The animals reach a length of seven centimeters to 1.10 meters.
Naming
The name of the eel mother comes from the earlier belief that the European eels were born from them. The background to this is that, due to the migration behavior of eels for reproduction in the Atlantic, there was no explanation for their reproduction for a long time.
Subfamilies
- Gymnelinae Gill , 1863
- Lycodinae Gill, 1861
- Lycozoarcinae Andriashev , 1939
- Zoarcinae Swainson , 1839
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World . John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
- Bent J. Muus, Jørgen G. Nielsen: The marine fish of Europe in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07804-3 .
Web links
Wikisource: Aalmutter - Article of the 4th edition of Meyers Konversations-Lexikon- Eelpouts on Fishbase.org (English)