Psychrolutes phrictus
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| Stein & Bond , 1978 |
Blob sculpin , also Blobfisch ( English Blob sculpin ) is called, a soil-deep-sea fish of the genus Psychrolutes within the family of psychrolutidae (Psychrolutidae). They arefishedby deep sea anglers.
Etymology and history of research
The additional species " phrictus ", Latinized from the ancient Greek φρικτός ( phriktos = "horrible", "horrific", "dreadful") refers to the bizarre shape of the fish. It was first described in 1978 by Stein and Bond , after a very large Psychrolute species had been discovered off the North American Pacific coast in the 1960s .
In the years 2000 to 2002 several diving trips with ROVs provided first indications of the breeding behavior of Psychrolutes phrictus . The results were published in 2003 by Drazen et al. released.
features
In the first description of Psychrolutes phrictus , the body length of the largest specimen examined is given as 55.8 cm. Apparently even larger specimens were caught later and Eschmeyer et al. indicate a length of up to 70 cm with a body mass of 9.5 kg, but without citing more precise sources. The spherical head is unusually large and occupies 45.3 - 60.6% of the standard length (SL). The skin is described as sitting slack on the body and is separated from the muscles by a gelatinous layer.
The head and body are covered with cirrus-like outgrowths. Young fish, smaller than 5 cm, also have spines on their head and body, which disappear in adult animals. The dorsal fin has eight hard and 19 to 20 soft rays, the anal fin 12 to 14 soft rays. The pectoral fins are supported by (22) 24-25 (26) rays . The gill cover is without a sting. The fish are gray to black in color on the top and lightly marbled on the head. The underside is light. The head becomes whitish in large specimens.
Distribution and way of life
The bottom-dwelling fish live at depths of over 800 to 2800 meters in the northern Pacific , from Japan via the Bering Strait to California and Mexico
Stein & Bond examined the stomach contents of 25 animals and identified a total of 24 different types of food residues. The most common concerned crabs of the genus Chionoecetes , which were found in the stomach of 15 of the 25 examined individuals (60%), followed by snails of the genus Buccinium and others (52%), as well as sea feathers of the genera Stylatula , Funiculina and possibly Balticina (= Halipteris ), (48%). In addition, there were remains of Sebastolobus alascanus , the fish genus Sebastes and the horned beaks of eight-armed squids (16%) as well as individual records of hermit crabs of the genera Pagurus and Parapagurus , various representatives of the Echinodermata , the possible remains of a sea anemone , stones and a plastic bag . The stomach contents of an individual of about 31 cm standard length, which contained numerous otoliths , which could be assigned to the fish genera Nansenia and Lestidium, attracted particular attention . However, fish of these two genera do not live on the bottom of the deep sea like Psychrolutes phrictus , but in the pelagic . An at least partially pelagic way of life of Psychrolutes phrictus is considered by the authors to be rather unlikely due to the squat, tadpole- like body shape and they assume that the prey fish, for whatever reason, swam near the sea floor and from there Psychrolutes phrictus were captured.
During trips with remote-controlled diving vehicles between 2000 and 2002 off the coast of California, two spawning areas of Psychrolutes phrictus were discovered at a depth of 1534 to 1603 m . The areas were characterized by a high population density of Psychrolutes phrictus . The majority of the fish were found in direct contact with clutches of up to 50 pink-colored eggs, each around 4 mm in diameter. The clutches showed no signs of sediment cover and the authors concluded that the parents not only stayed close to the clutches to protect them, but also actively tended them. The breeding areas were not only used by Psychrolutes phrictus , but also by squids of the genus Graneledone , which apparently also seemed to be actively involved in brood care.
See also
- Psychrolutes marcidus , alsocalled blobfish
literature
- William N. Eschmeyer, Earl S. Herald, Howard Hamann: A field guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America. From the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California (Peterson Field Guides; 28). Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Mass. 1983, ISBN 0-395-33188-9 .
- Psychrolutes phrictus on Fishbase.org (English)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g D. L. Stein & CE Bond: A new Deep-Sea Fish from the Eastern North Pacific Psychrolutes phrictus (Pisces: Cottidae [Psychrolutinae]). In: Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County , No. 296, pp. 1-9, 1978. (digitized version)
- ↑ a b J. C. Drazen, Sh. K. Goffredi, B. Schlining & DS Stakes: Aggregations of Egg-Brooding Deep-Sea Fish and Cephalopods on the Gorda Escarpment: a Reproductive Hot Spot. In: Biological Bulletin , Vol. 205, pp. 1–7, 2003. (digitized version)
- ^ A b c W. N. Eschmeyer, ES Herald & H. Hammann: A field guide to Pacific coast fishes: North America. 352 pp., The Peterson Field Guide Series, 1983. (excerpt)
- ↑ M. Yabe, Sh. Maruyama & K. Amaoka: First Records of Five Cottid Fishes and a Psychrolutid Fish from Japan. In: Japanese Journal of Ichthyology , Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 456-464, 1983 (digitized version )
- ↑ AC Matarese & DL Stone: Additional records of the sculpin sculpin Psychrolutes in the eastern Bering Sea and off Oregon. In: Fishery Bulletin , Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 169–171, 1980. (digitized version)
- ^ H. Aguirre-Villaseñor, E. Cruz-Acevedo & C. Salas-Singh: New eastern Pacific Ocean record of the rare deep-water fish, Psychrolutes phrictus (Scorpaeniformes: Psychrolutidae). In: Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad , Vol. 87, Issue 3, pp. 1141–1145, 2016. (online)