{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Lycenchelys verrillii.jpg |image_caption =''Lycenchelys verrillii'' |taxon = Lycenchelys |authority = Gill, 1884 |type_species = ''Lycodes muraena'' |type_species_authority = Collett, 1878<ref name = CofF >{{Cof family|family=Lycodinae|access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref> |synonyms = {{Genus list | Apodolycus | Andriyashev, 1979 | Embryx | Jordan & Evermann, 1898 | Furcella | Jordan £ Evermann, 1896 | Lyciscus | Jordan & Gilbert, 1899 | Lycodophis | Vaillant, 1888 }} |synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/> }}
'''''Lycenchelys''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The genus has almost cosmopolitan distribution.<ref name="GBIF">{{cite web |title=Lycenchelys Gill, 1884 |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2380586 |website=www.gbif.org |access-date=1 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== 200px|thumb|left|Snakehead eelpout ''Lycenelchys'' was first proposed as a genus in 1884 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Gill with ''Lycodes muraena'' being designated as the type species in 1920 by David Starr Jordan,<ref name = CofF/><ref name = Anderson1995>{{cite journal | author = M. Eric Anderson | year = 1995 | title = The eelpout genera Lycenchelys Gill and Taranetzella Andriashev (Teleosti:Zoarcidae) of the Eastern Pacific with descriptions of nine new species | journal = Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences | series = 4 | volume = 49 | issue = 2 | pages = 55–113 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15776827#page/63/mode/1up}}</ref> this species was originally described by the Norwegian zoologist Robert Collett in 1878 with its type locality given as {{cvt|325|km}} west-southwest of Bodø in Norway, at a depth of {{cvt|640|m}}.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Lycenchelys|access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref> The genus is classified in the subfamily Lycodinae, one of four subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.<ref name = A&F2004>{{cite journal | author1 = Anderson, M. E. | author2 = V. V . Fedorov | name-list-style = and | year = 2004 | title = Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts | journal = California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes | volume = 34 | url = https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/zoarcidae.pdf}}</ref>
==Species== ''Lycenchelys'' contains the following species:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Lycenchelys|month=June|year=2022}}</ref> {{Linked species list | Lycenchelys alba | (Vaillant, 1888) | Lycenchelys albeola | Andriashev, 1958 | Lycenchelys albomaculata | Toyoshima, 1983 | Lycenchelys alta | Toyoshima, 1985 | Lycenchelys antarctica | Regan, 1913 | Lycenchelys aratrirostris | Andriashev & Permitin, 1968 | Lycenchelys argentina | Marschoff, Torno & Tomo, 1977 | Lycenchelys aurantiaca | Shinohara & Matsuura, 1998 | Lycenchelys bachmanni | Gosztonyi, 1977 | Lycenchelys bellingshauseni | Andriashev & Permitin, 1968 | Lycenchelys bullisi | Cohen, 1964 | Lycenchelys callista | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys camchatica | (Gilbert & Burke, 1912) | Lycenchelys chauliodus | M. E, Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys cicatrifer | (Garman, 1899) | Lycenchelys crotalinus | (Gilbert, 1890) | Lycenchelys fedorovi | M.., Anderson & Balanov, 2000 | Lycenchelys folletti | M. E. Andersonn, 1995 | Lycenchelys hadrogeneia | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys hippopotamus | Schmidt, 1950 | Lycenchelys hureaui | (Andriashev, 1979) | Lycenchelys imamurai | M.E. Anderson, 2006 | Lycenchelys incisa | (Garman, 1899) | Lycenchelys jordani | (Evermann & Goldsborough, 1907) | Lycenchelys kolthoffi | Jensen, 1904 | Lycenchelys lonchoura | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys maculata | Toyoshima, 1985 | Lycenchelys makushok | Fedorov & Andriashev, 1993 | Lycenchelys maoriensis | Andriashev & Fedorov, 1986 | Lycenchelys melanostomias | Toyoshima, 1983 | Lycenchelys micropora | Andriashev, 1955 | Lycenchelys monstrosa | Anderson, 1982 | Lycenchelys muraena | (Collett, 1878) | Lycenchelys nanospinata | M. E. Anderson, 1988 | Lycenchelys nigripalatum | DeWitt & Hureau, 1979 | Lycenchelys novaezealandiae | Anderson & Møller, 2007 | Lycenchelys parini | Fedorov, 1995 | Lycenchelys paxillus | (Goode & T. H. Bean, 1879) | Lycenchelys pearcyi | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys pentactina | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys pequenoi | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys peruana | M. E. Anderson, 1995 | Lycenchelys platyrhina | (Jensen, 1902) | Lycenchelys plicifera | Andriashev, 1955 | Lycenchelys polyodon | M. E. Anderson & Møller, 2007 | Lycenchelys porifer | (Gilbert, 1890) | Lycenchelys rassi | Andriashev, 1955 | Lycenchelys ratmanovi | Andriashev, 1955 | Lycenchelys remissaria | Fedorov, 1995 | Lycenchelys rosea | Toyoshima, 1985 | Lycenchelys ryukyuensis | Shinohara & M. E. Anderson, 2007 | Lycenchelys sarsii | (Collett, 1871) | Lycenchelys scaurus | (Garman, 1899) | Lycenchelys squamosa | Toyoshima, 1983 | Lycenchelys tohokuensis | Anderson & Imamura, 2002 | Lycenchelys tristichodon | DeWitt & Hureau, 1979 | Lycenchelys uschakovi | Andriashev, 1958 | Lycenchelys verrillii | (Goode & T. H. Bean, 1877) | Lycenchelys vitiazi | Andriashev, 1955 | Lycenchelys volki | Andriashev, 1955 |Lycenchelys wilkesi | M. E. Anderson, 1988 | Lycenchelys xanthoptera | M. E. Anderson, 1991 }}
==Etymology== ''Lycenchelys'' is a combination of ''lyc'', a reference to the genus ''Lycodes'' and '' enchelys'', the Greek word for "eel". i.e. similar to ''Lycodes'' but with a more elongated eel-like shape.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = http://etyfish.org/perciformes14/ | title = Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 6 May 2022 | access-date = 6 November 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
==Characteristics== ''Lycenelchys'' are regarded as derived Lycodine eelpouts which are separated from other Lycodine genera by a number of oseological characters.<ref name = Anderson1995/> They can be diagnosed by having between 6 and 10 suborbital bones and a cephalic sensory canal with between 6 and 10 pores. The pterygiophore of the first dorsal fin ray is associated with the second to the 21st vertebrae and there can be up to 16 free pterygiophores, or there may be none. There is a weak series of palatopterygoids, a weak oral valve and pseudobranch. They may or may not have pelvic fins, vomerine teeth and palatine teeth. Scales, the pyloric caeca and lateral line or lines are all present.<ref name = Anderson1994>{{cite journal | author = M. Eric Anderson | year = 1994 | title = Systematics and Osteology of the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) | journal = Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology | volume = 60 | url = http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/PdfViewer/vital:15033/SOURCEPDF?viewPdfInternal=1}}</ref> The species with the greatest published length is ''Lycenchelys albomaculata'', with a standard length of {{cvt|43.8|cm}}, while the lowest published length is that of ''Lycenchelys peruana'' with a maximum total length of {{cvt|10.5|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Lycenchelys'' is a cosmopolitan genus with species in all oceans, they are found in continental slope and abyssal habitats. They are rare or absent from the far northern Arctic, the eastern Atlantic and the tropical Indian Oceans.<ref name = Anderson1994/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3496978}}
Category:Lycodinae Category:Lycenchelys Category:Taxa named by Theodore Gill