{{Short description|Species of marine ray-finned fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = FMIB 33446 Lyconema Barbatum spnov.jpeg | taxon = Lyconema barbatum | display_parents = 3 | parent_authority = Gilbert, 1896 | authority = Gilbert, 1896 }} The '''bearded eelpout''' ('''''Lyconema barbatum''''') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. This species is the only species in the monospecific genus '''''Lyconema'''''. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
==Taxonomy== The bearded eelpout was first formally described in 1896 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as off central California.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus|genus=Lyconema|access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref> Gilbert also described a new monospecific genus, ''Lyconema'', when he described the bearded eelpout.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof family|family=Lycodinae|access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref> This taxon is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 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>
==Etymology== The bearded eelpout's genus name is a combination of ''lyco'', in reference to ''Lycodes'', meaning that this taxonm is similar to that one, but has its lower jaw furnishes with a dense mass of slender filaments or barbels, ''nema'' meaning thread. The specific name ''barbatum'' means "bearded" in another allusion to the filaments on the lower jaw.<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 = 13 November 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
==Description== The bearded eelpout has 9 or 10 suborbital bones and a cephalic sensory canal with 9 pores. There are 2 parallel lines of cirri on the lower jaw and. in adults, these often extend back as far as the branchiostegal region. They have 2 fin rays in the pelvic fin. The body is covered in small scales, there are two small pyloric caecae and a lateral line. There are small on sexually dimorphic teeth in the jaws and there are vomerine teeth and palatine teeth.<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> This species attains a maximum published total length of {{cvt|17|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution and habitat== The bearded eelpout is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from off southern Oregon south to central Baja California, Mexico. It is a demersal fish found at depths between {{cvt|82|and|373|m}} over soft substrates consisting of mud or a mix of sand and mud.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Lyconema|barbatum|month=June|year=2022}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from= Q2654440|from2= Q1110280}}
Category:Lycodinae Category:Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert