Northern wolffish

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Northern wolffish
Anarhichas denticulatus1.jpg
Status TNC blank.svg
Unranked (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Anarhichadidae
Genus: Anarhichas
Species:
A. denticulatus
Binomial name
Anarhichas denticulatus
Krøyer, 1845 [3]
Synonyms [4]
  • Lycichthys denticulatus (Krøyer, 1845)
  • Anarhichas latifrons Steenstrup & Hallgrimsson, 1876
  • Lycichthys paucidens Gill, 1905
  • Lycichthys fortidens Gill, 1911
  • Lycichthys parvodens Lühmann, 1954

The northern wolffish (Anarhichas denticulatus), also known as the blue sea cat or jelly cat, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Anarhichadidae, the wolf fishes. This species is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Northern wolffish was first formally described in 1845 by the Danish zoologist Henrik Nikolai Krøyer with the type locality given as Greenland. [5] The specific name means "denticulated" or "having fine teeth" alluding to the sharper, more finely pointed teeth of this species in comparison to the Atlantic wolffish (A. lupus). [6]

Description

Captive northern wolffish at Chessington Sealife Centre Northern Wolf Fish (Anarhichas denticulatus), Chessington Sealife Centre.jpg
Captive northern wolffish at Chessington Sealife Centre

The northern wolffish is a robust, elongate fish with a large head, sharp snout and small eyes. The teeth are distinctive and prominent with large canine-like teeth to the front of the jaws and molar-like teeth at the back of the jaws. It does not have any pelvic fins. The overall colour of the body is greyish to dark brown with a pale purplish sheen and there are frequently marked with many but vague dark bars or spotting. [7] The tissue of the muscles is soft and resembles jelly. The vomerine teeth are large, and may be rounded or pointed and extend back to the line of palatine teeth. The caudal fin is truncate and contains between 18 and 22 fin rays. [8] The maximum published total length is 180 cm (71 in) and the maximum published weight is 20 kg (44 lb). [4]

Distribution and habitat

The Northern wolffish is found in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans where it is distributed in the Barents and Norwegian seas to Spitsbergen, Iceland, Faroe Islands, southern Greenland and south along east coast of North America almost to Cape Cod and west to Prince Patrick Island in the Northwest Territories of Canada. [9] They have been reported from the northern North Sea and the Bay of Biscay. [8]

This species inhabits the open areas of the North Atlantic and the offshore region of the continental shelf occurring in bathypelagic waters and has been recorded at a depth of 1,325 m (4,347 ft), the deepest any wolffish has been recorded at, living mainly in the free of the substrate in the water column and occasionally moving up to the surface. [10]

Biology

Northern wolffish use large rocks for shelter and nest building. Late in the year, females lay about 46,500 large eggs (up to 8 mm or 5⁄16 inch in diameter) which sink to the sea floor, where they are guarded in nests by the males until they hatch. Growth rates are slow, and they mature at five years or older. Their lifespans are at least 12 years. Unlike other wolffishes, northerns have been found off the bottom during both the juvenile and adult stages. The species does not form large schools or undertake long migrations. [7]

This fish feeds in open water on comb jellies and jellyfish, and on bottom-living crustaceans and invertebrates, such as crabs, sea urchins, brittle stars, and starfish. [10]

Conservation status

The northern wolffish is protected under the Canadian federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), where it is classified as a Threatened species. [2] [7] A recovery team for the northern and spotted wolffish has almost completed a recovery strategy and plan for both species. The strategy provides a framework for improving the status of wolffish through an enhanced understanding of their life history, potential sources of harm, and implementing management measures such as live release of captured wolffish. The plan also includes habitat stewardship and educational activities designed to involve stakeholders and inform the public. [7]

In Europe it is regarded as Endangered because of its sedentary habits, the numbers taken as bycatch by fisheries and the threat of anthropogenic climate change. The IUCN inferred that the northeastern Atlantic population has reduced by over 50% in the last three generations. [1]

Old Woman Fish

The Northern wolfish overlaps in range with the Bering wolffish (A. orientalis) in the Bathurst Inlet where the local Inuit do not distinguish between the species, calling both by the name akoak or akoaksaluk ("old woman fish"). [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 Collette, B.; Heessen, H. & Fernandes, P. (2015). "Anarhichas denticulatus (Europe assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T18155990A44739291. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Anarhichas denticulatus". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Nicolas Bailly (2008). "Anarhichas denticulatus Krøyer, 1845". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Anarhichas debticulatus" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  5. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Anarhichas". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (4 July 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Families: Anarhichadidae, Neozoarcidae, Eulophias, Stichaeidae, Lumpenidae, Ophistocentridae, Pholidae, Ptilichthyidae, Zaproridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Cebidichthyidae, Scytalinidae and Bathymasteridae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Niall R. O'Dea; Richard L. Haedrich (2001). "COSEWIC Status Report on the Northern Wolffish Anarhichas denticulatus in Canada". Government of Canada. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 J. C. Hureau (ed.). "Blue sea-cat (Anarhichas denticulatus)". Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Catherine W. Mecklenburg (2003). "Family Anarhichadidae Bonaparte 1846 wolffishes" (PDF). Annotated Checklist of Fishes (10). California Academy of Sciences. ISSN   1545-150X.
  10. 1 2 Kjell Nedreaas (6 January 2020). "Northern wolffish" (PDF). Havforskningsinstituttet. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Bering wolffish COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 5". Government of Canada. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

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