Careproctus

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Genus of fishes

title: "Careproctus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["liparidae", "marine-fish-genera", "taxa-named-by-henrik-nikolai-krøyer", "careproctus"] description: "Genus of fishes" topic_path: "general/liparidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careproctus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of fishes ::

| image= Careproctus rastrinus.JPG | image_caption = Careproctus rastrinus at Numazu Deepblue Aquarium, Japan | image2 = Careproctus.jpg | image2_caption = Unidentified Careproctus from the Beaufort Sea | taxon = Careproctus | authority = Krøyer, 1862 | type_species = Liparis reinhardti | type_species_authority = Krøyer, 1862 | synonyms = {{Genus list | 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

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. They range from shallow coastal seas in the far north of their range to the abyssal zone, at depths of 6 to(-). 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.

Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek κάρα (kára) "face, head" and πρωκτός (prōktόs) "anus", therefore literally meaning "butt-face", because of the position of the anus under the head.

Careproctus have one pair of nostrils and a ventral suction disc but lack a pseudobranch. They are tadpole-like in shape and reach up to 54 cm in standard length, but most species are far smaller. Like other snailfish, they lack scales and have a loose gelatinous skin; a few species are covered in prickly spines.

Most species of Careproctus are poorly known, but they feed on small animals and some have unusual breeding behaviors. For example, C. ovigerus appears to be a mouth brooder where the eggs are carried and develop in the males' mouth. C. fulvus has a commensal relationship with glass sponges, laying their eggs in the paragastric cavity. These parasitic Careproctus do not appear to be host specific, but rather they use various species of king crabs. An individual king crab may even carry the eggs of more than one Careproctus species at the same time.

| direction = vertical | width = 220 | image1 =Careproctus attenuatus.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 =Careproctus attenuatus | image2 =Careproctus bowersianus.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 =Careproctus bowersianus | image3 =Careproctus furcellus.jpg | alt3 = | caption3 =Careproctus furcellus | image4 =Careproctus mollis.jpg | alt4 = | caption4 =Careproctus mollis | image5 =Careproctus opisthotremus.jpg | alt5 = | caption5 =Careproctus opisthotremus | image6 =Careproctus ranula.jpg | alt6 = | caption6 =Careproctus ranula | image7 =Careproctus reinhardti.jpg | alt7 = | caption7 =Careproctus reinhardti

Species

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

References

References

  1. Priede, I.G.. (2017). "Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries". Cambridge University Press.
  2. 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.
  3. "Careproctus merretti, Merret's snailfish".
  4. "Limace de Reinhardt. ''Careproctus reinhardti'' (Krøyer, 1862)". [[Fédération Française d'Études et de Sports Sous-Marins.
  5. [http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=fnam&id=875&menuentry=groepen ''Careproctus'' at Marine Species Identification Portal]
  6. {{FishBase genus. (2019)
  7. {{FishBase. (2019)
  8. Ahyong, S.T.. (2010). "Neolithodes flindersi, a new species of king crab from southeastern Australia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)". Zootaxa.
  9. (2016). "Reproductive Parasitism between Distant Phyla: Molecular Identification of Snailfish (Liparidae) Egg Masses in the Gill Cavities of King Crabs (Lithodidae)". Copeia.
  10. Chernova, N.V.. (1991). "Aquarium observations of the snail fishes Careproctus reinhardti and Liparis liparis". Journal of Ichthyology.
  11. {{Cof genus
  12. (2020-11-20). "A New Species of Snailfish (Cottiformes: Liparidae) Closely Related to Careproctus melanurus of the Eastern North Pacific". Copeia.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.''
  15. Gerringer, M.E., S. Suplicz, J.L. Palmeri, L. Fregosi, B.H. Woodworth, M. McMahon, S. Shepard, L.M. Peoples, and J.C. Drazen. 2025. Descriptions of three newly discovered abyssal snailfishes (Liparidae) from the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Ichthyology and Herpetology. 113(3): 487–506. https://doi.org/10.1643/i2024069
  16. 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.''
  17. 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.''
  18. Orr, J.W.. (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". Zootaxa.
  19. 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.''
  20. 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.''
  21. (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.

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