Family Cryptacanthodidae

by. Nolvyhindarto,S.Si_Encartablog_Animals

Wrymouths

Selected Characters: Body elongate; pelvic fins absent; mouth almost vertical.

This is a small family found in the northern Pacific and northwestern Atlantic. They usually live at the bottom, sometimes partly buried in sediment. There are four species in the family with two found in Puget Sound. The Dwarf Wrymouth grows to 30 cm and the Giant Wrymouth grows to 117 cm; neither is commercially utilized. Because these fishes are so secretive and inactive, little is known about their life history. This family is not rare in our region, but individuals are not commonly encountered.

Species

Delolepis gigantea Giant Wrymouth

Lyconectes aleutensis Dwarf Wrymouth

Retrieved from:” http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/ichthyology”