Careproctus Explained

Careproctus is a genus of snailfishes found in benthic and benthopelagic habitats in the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Southern Oceans. Whether they truly are absent from the Indian Ocean (except for a couple of species in Subantarctic waters) is unknown and might be an artifact of limited sampling.[1] They range from shallow coastal seas in the far north of their range to the abyssal zone, at depths of .[1] [2] In the Northern Hemisphere they mostly live shallower than Paraliparis, but this pattern is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Although almost entirely restricted to very cold waters, a single species, C. hyaleius, lives at hydrothermal vents.[1]

Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek κάρα (kara, "face, head") and πρωκτός (prōktos, "anus"), therefore literally meaning "butt-face".[3]

Careproctus have one pair of nostrils and a ventral suction disc but lack a pseudobranch.[4] They are tadpole-like in shape and reach up to in standard length, but most species are far smaller. Like other snailfish, they lack scales and have a loose gelatinous skin; a few species are covered in prickly spines.[2]

Most species of Careproctus are poorly known, but they feed on small animals and some have unusual breeding behaviors: At least C. ovigerus appears to be a mouth brooder where the eggs are carried and develop in the males' mouth. C. fulvus has a commensal relationship with glass sponges, laying their eggs in the paragastric cavity. Several other Careproctus species are parasitic on king crabs (at least Lithodes, Neolithodes and Paralithodes, and likely Lopholithodes), laying their egg mass in the gill chamber of the crab, forming a well-protected and well-aerated mobile "home" until they hatch.[1] [5] [6] As far as known, these parasitic Careproctus are not host specific, but will use various king crab species, and on occasion an individual king crab may even carry the eggs of more than one Careproctus species at the same time.[6] Additionally, small Careproctus—no more than long—have been seen together with Lithodes and Paralomis king crabs, hitching rides by attaching themselves to the crab's legs or back.[1] In contrast, a C. reinhardti (species complex[2]) in an aquarium deposited its eggs on the glass, but whether this resembles its wild behavior is unknown.[7]

Species

There are currently about 125 recognized species in this genus, but new species are regularly described and it is likely to actually contain more than 140.[8] It formerly also included the species now separated in the genus Volodichthys.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Priede, I.G. . 2017 . Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries . 260–262 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-08382-0 .
  2. Chernova, N.V. . 2005 . Review of Careproctus (Liparidae) of the North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic, including the generic type C. reinhardti, with rehabilitation of C. gelatinosus (Pallas) from Kamchatka . Journal of Ichthyology . 45 . 1 . S1–S22 .
  3. Web site: Careproctus merretti, Merret's snailfish. www.fishbase.se.
  4. http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=fnam&id=875&menuentry=groepen Careproctus at Marine Species Identification Portal
  5. Ahyong, S.T. . 2010 . Neolithodes flindersi, a new species of king crab from southeastern Australia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) . Zootaxa . 45 . 2362 . 55–62 . 10.11646/zootaxa.2362.1.3 .
  6. Gardner, J.R. . J.W. Orr . D.E. Stevenson . I. Spies . D.A. Somerton . 2016 . Reproductive Parasitism between Distant Phyla: Molecular Identification of Snailfish (Liparidae) Egg Masses in the Gill Cavities of King Crabs (Lithodidae) . Copeia . 104 . 3 . 645–657 . 10.1643/CI-15-374. 89241686 .
  7. Chernova, N.V. . 1991 . Aquarium observations of the snail fishes Careproctus reinhardti and Liparis liparis . Journal of Ichthyology . 31 . 9 . 65–70 .
  8. Orr. James W.. Pitruk. Dmitry L.. Manning. Rachel. Stevenson. Duane E.. Gardner. Jennifer R.. Spies. Ingrid. 2020-11-20. A New Species of Snailfish (Cottiformes: Liparidae) Closely Related to Careproctus melanurus of the Eastern North Pacific. Copeia. 108. 4. 10.1643/CI2020008. 0045-8511. free.
  9. Balushkin, A.V. . 2012 . Volodichthys gen. nov. New Species of the Primitive Snailfish (Liparidae: Scorpaeniformes) of the Southern Hemisphere. Description of New Species V. solovjevae sp. nov. (Cooperation Sea, the Antarctic) . Journal of Ichthyology . 52 . 1 . 1–10 . 10.1134/S0032945212010018 . 12642696 .
  10. Chernova, N.V. (2014): New species of the genus Careproctus (Liparidae) from the Kara Sea and identification key for congeners of the North Atlantic and Arctic. Journal of Ichthyology, 54 (10): 757-780.
  11. Chernova, N.V. (2014): New species of the genus Careproctus (Liparidae) from the Kara Sea with notes on spongiophilia, reproductive commensalism between fishes and sponges (Rossellidae). Journal of Ichthyology, 54 (8): 501-512.
  12. Orr, J.W. (2012): Two New Species of Snailfishes of the Genus Careproctus (Scorpaeniformes: Liparidae) from the Bering Sea and Eastern North Pacific Ocean, with a Redescription of Careproctus ovigerus. Copeia, 2012 (2): 257-265.
  13. Orr, J.W. . Kai, Y. . Nakabo, T. . amp. 2015 . Snailfishes of the Careproctus rastrinus complex (Liparidae): redescriptions of seven species in the North Pacific Ocean region, with the description of a new species from the Beaufort Sea . Zootaxa . 4018 . 3 . 301–348 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4018.3.1 . 26624044 . 2433/210587 . free .
  14. Stein, D.L. (2012): A Review of the Snailfishes (Liparidae, Scorpaeniformes) of New Zealand, Including Descriptions of a New Genus and Sixteen New Species. Zootaxa, 3588: 1–54.
  15. Machi, K., Nobetsu, T. & Yabe, M. (2012): Careproctus rausuensis, a New Liparid Fish (Percomorphacea: Cottiformes), Collected from Hokkaido, Japan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural Science, Ser. A., Supplement No. 6: 33–40.
  16. Matsuzaki. Koji. Mori. Toshiaki. Kamiunten. Moeko. Yanagimoto. Takashi. Kai. Yoshiaki. 2020-07-01. A new species of Careproctus (Cottoidei: Liparidae) from the Sea of Okhotsk and a redescription of the blacktip snailfish Careproctus zachirus. Ichthyological Research. en. 67. 3. 399–407. 10.1007/s10228-020-00734-w. 211067352 . 1616-3915.

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