Polar Eelpout: Lycodes polaris(Sabine, 1824)
One of the most widespread, abundant, and northerly distributed continental shelf eelpouts
Size
- 26 cm
Color & Characteristics
- Tan body with 9-11 broad, brown or blackish brown bands extending onto dorsal and anal fins, bands not always well defined; some specimens rather pale overall
- Chin crests well developed, rounded anteriorly; pectoral fin rays 15-17, rarely 18; scales usually absent; lateral line with mediolateral configuration
Habitat
- Arctic, nearly circumpolar
- Benthic, at depths of 5-300 m, typically < 150 m
- Found on mud and sandy mud bottoms
- Lives in upper layers of sediment, burying itself tail first
Feeding
- Feeds predominantly on gammarid amphipods and polychaete worms; bivalve siphons, cumaceans, caprellids, isopods, mysids, shrimp, brittle stars, and Arctic cod also eaten
- Eaten by seals and seabirds
Life cycle
- Spawns on bottom in fall to early winter, releasing about 100-200 eggs, 3-5 mm in diameter
- Lives 5 years or more
Page Author: CW Mecklenburg & TA Mecklenburg
Updated: March 5, 2011
