Bothrocara brunneum

Bothrocara brunneum
B. brunneum swimming by a seabed.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Genus: Bothrocara
Species:
B. brunneum
Binomial name
Bothrocara brunneum
Synonyms
  • Bothrocaropsis rictolata Garman, 1899
  • Maynea brunnea T. H. Bean, 1890

Bothrocara brunneum, the twoline eelpout, is a bathydemersal species of fish of the family Zoarcidae.[1] The species is the only fish of the eelpouts to have two lateral lines and short blunt-ended gill rakers.[2] The species has a wide range across the northeastern Pacific Ocean, between the Bering Sea and the shores of San Francisco,[3] and from Attu Island to the Baja California Peninsula.[1]

It inhabits the bottom of seas or oceans and is generally found in a depth ranging between 2,000 feet (610 m) and 6,000 feet (1,829 m).[3] The species has also been studied to have shown a relationship between the season and its population increase and decrease, with the summer seasons being its highest and the winter seasons being the decrease in population size.[4] It has been hypothesized from an analysis of stomach content that the species feeds mainly on bottom-dwelling creatures.[3] Etymologically, Bothrocara stands for "cavity head" and brunneum for "brown", named respectively after the appearance of the head and the tinted brown colour of the body.[5] It was named "twoline eelpout" for its unique two lateral lines.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference fishbase was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Fitch & Lavenberg (1968), p. 77.
  3. ^ a b c Fitch & Lavenberg (1968), p. 78.
  4. ^ Orlov, A. M.; Tokranov, A. M. (2012-09-01). "Specific features and dynamics of catches of twoline eelpout Bothrocara brunneum (Zoarcidae) in pacific waters near Kuril Islands and Kamchatka". Journal of Ichthyology. 52 (8): 505–518. doi:10.1134/S0032945212050049. ISSN 1555-6425.
  5. ^ Fitch & Lavenberg (1968), p. 79.