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 6 to 5,459 m (20–17,910 ft).[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]

Careproctus
Careproctus rastrinus at Numazu Deepblue Aquarium, Japan
Unidentified Careproctus from the Beaufort Sea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Liparidae
Genus: Careproctus
Krøyer, 1862
Type species
Liparis reinhardti
Krøyer, 1862
Synonyms
  • Enantioliparis Vaillant, 1888
  • Allochir Jordan & Evermann, 1896
  • Allinectes Jordan & Evermann, 1898
  • Allurus Jordan & Evermann, 1896
  • Caremitra Jordan & Evermann, 1896
  • Careproctula Andriashev, 2003
  • Enantioliparis Vaillant, 1888
  • Prognurus Jordan & Gilbert, 1898

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 54 cm (1.8 ft) in standard length, but most species are far smaller.[5] 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.[6] C. fulvus has a commensal relationship with glass sponges, laying their eggs in the paragastric cavity.[7] Several other Careproctus species are parasitic on king crabs (at least Lithodes, Neolithodes and Paralithodes, and likely Echidnocerus), laying their egg mass in the gill chamber of the crab, forming a well-protected and well-aerated mobile "home" until they hatch.[1][8][9] 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.[9] Additionally, small Careproctus—no more than 9 cm (3.5 in) 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.[10]

Careproctus attenuatus
Careproctus bowersianus
Careproctus furcellus
Careproctus mollis
Careproctus opisthotremus
Careproctus ranula
Careproctus reinhardti

Species

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There are currently about 125 recognized species in this genus,[5][11] but new species are regularly described and it is likely to actually contain more than 140.[12][13] It formerly also included the species now separated in the genus Volodichthys.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Priede, I.G. (2017). Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries. Cambridge University Press. pp. 260–262. ISBN 978-1-107-08382-0.
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ "Careproctus merretti, Merret's snailfish". www.fishbase.se.
  4. ^ Careproctus at Marine Species Identification Portal
  5. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Careproctus". FishBase. June 2019 version.
  6. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Careproctus ovigerus". FishBase. June 2019 version.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ Ahyong, S.T. (2010). "Neolithodes flindersi, a new species of king crab from southeastern Australia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)". Zootaxa. 45 (2362): 55–62. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2362.1.3.
  9. ^ a b 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. doi:10.1643/CI-15-374. S2CID 89241686.
  10. ^ Chernova, N.V. (1991). "Aquarium observations of the snail fishes Careproctus reinhardti and Liparis liparis". Journal of Ichthyology. 31 (9): 65–70.
  11. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Careproctus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Orr, J.W.; Kai, Y. & Nakabo, T. (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" (PDF). Zootaxa. 4018 (3): 301–348. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4018.3.1. hdl:2433/210587. PMID 26624044.
  13. ^ 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). doi:10.1643/CI2020008. ISSN 0045-8511.
  14. ^ 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. doi:10.1134/S0032945212010018. S2CID 12642696.
  15. ^ a b c d e 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.
  16. ^ a b 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.
  17. ^ a b 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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. 67 (3): 399–407. doi:10.1007/s10228-020-00734-w. ISSN 1616-3915. S2CID 211067352.