Zoarcidae: Development and Relationships 

 M. E. Anderson 



THE eelpouts, Zoarcidae, comprise a monophyletic group of 

 about 200 valid species of marine fishes in 44 genera (Table 

 149; Anderson, 1984). About 20 additional undescribed species 

 are known to me from collections around the world. Most zoar- 

 cids live on the bottom in deep water in boreal seas, but 1 1 are 

 known from intertidal areas, especially in temperate South 

 America. Twenty-two species are known from tropical-sub- 

 tropical areas and all of them live in deep water (640-5,320 m). 



Fourteen species are known from both shallow and deep waters 

 of Antarctica and subantarctic regions. Two deep-living genera, 

 Lycodapus and Melanostignia, are coastal or thalassobathyal, 

 deep-pelagic forms that seem to occur in greatest numbers where 

 their zooplankton prey concentrate (Belman and Anderson, 1 979; 

 Anderson, 1981). Thus the family is stenothermic and adapted 

 to very low temperatures (mostly below about 8° C). 



Table 149. Distribution, Ecology and Selected Meristics of Zoarcidae. 



578 



