Austrolycus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Perciformes
Subordo: Cottoidei
Infraordo: Zoarcales

Familia: Zoarcidae
Genus: Austrolycus
Species: A. depressiceps – A. laticinctus
Name
Austrolycus Regan, 1913

Austrolycus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The two species in this genus are found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and the western South Atlantic Ocean off southern South America and the Falkland Islands.
Taxonomy

Austrolycus was first proposed as a monospecific genus by the English zoologist Charles Tate Regan in 1913 when he described Austrolycus depressiceps, giving the type locality as the Magellan Strait. Later, Lycodes laticinctus, which had been described by Carlos Berg in 1895 from mouth of the Rio Santa Cruz in Argentina, was placed within Austrolycus.[1][2] This genus is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[3]
Species

Austrolycus contains two species:[4]

Austrolycus depressiceps Regan, 1913
Austrolycus laticinctus (C. Berg, 1895)

Etymology

Austrolycus is a compound of austro meaning "south" and lykos, meaning "wolf"in Greek. the root of the type genus of the Lycodinae, Lyciodes.[5]
Characteristics

Austrolycus eelpouts have pelvic fins and they have 6 branchiostegal rays. The gill slit does not extend down as far as the lower rays of the pectoral fins. There are between 27 and 33 vertebrae before the caudal fin. They do not have a pyloric caecum. There are 6 or 7 pores below the eye and a single one behind the eye above the gill slit. The lack of a whitish strip on snout and head distinguishes these species from Phucocoetes latitans. In A. depressiceps the pelvic fins do not extend as far as, or just reach a vertical line through the base of the pectoral fin base and there are between 72 and 79 caudal vertrebrae. In A. laticinctus the pelvic fins clearly extend beyond a vertical line through the base of the pectoral fin and there are 80-89 caudal vertebrae.[6] The maximum published total lengths of theses eelpouts are 57 cm (22 in) in A. depressiceps and 82.4 cm (32.4 in) in A. laticinctus.[4]
Distribution and habitat

Austrolycus eelpouts are found around southern South America. depressiceps is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean from Chiloé Island south to Tierra del Fuego and it also occurs in the South Atlantic at the Falkland Islands,[7] while A. laticinctus is found in the southwestern Atlantic in Argentina from Puerto Deseado south to Tierra del Fuego.[8] These demersal fishes are found in rocky areas in estuaries and in well vegetated areas of the intertidal zone.[4][8]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Austrolycus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Austrolycus in FishBase. June 2022 version.
Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (6 May 2022). "Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
M. Eric Anderson and Atila E. Gosztonyi (1991). "Studies on the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) of the Southern Hemisphere IV. New records and a new species from the Magellan Province of South America". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 55: 1–16.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Austrolycus depressifrons" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Austrolycus laticinctus" in FishBase. June 2022 version.

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