Marbled Eelpout: Lycodes raridens Taranetz & Andriashev, 1937
One of the most distinctive-looking Lycodes in the Pacific-Arctic
Size
- 86 cm, reported to half that size in the Arctic
Color & Characteristics
- Pale cream to tan body with 7-9 brown or reddish brown bands extending onto dorsal and anal fins; margin of dorsal fin on bars blackish; top of head and nape with marbled or reticulate pattern
- Chin crests well developed, rounded anteriorly; lateral line pattern mediolateral; teeth widely and unevenly spaced; scales present on belly, extending to sides above pectoral fin and onto dorsal and anal fins in large specimens
Habitat
- Predominantly boreal Pacific
- Benthic, at depths of 8-360 m, usually < 150 m, deeper in winter, down to 525 m in Sea of Okhotsk
- Found on sandy mud and mud bottoms
Feeding
- Prey on gammarid amphipods, bivalves (Yoldia, Macoma), polychaetes, and decapods
- Eaten by seals, seabirds, cods and other fishes
Life cycle
- Little studied
- In western Bering Sea spawns in autumn to early winter
- In Bering Sea, fish 86 cm in length were 7 years old; fish aged 3 & 4 years old, measuring 30–50 cm, predominated
Page Author: CW Mecklenburg & TA Mecklenburg
Updated: March 5, 2011
