Lifeform: 3 snailfish encountered
Location: eastern abyssal Pacific
Depth: 3,268–4,119 m
Gerringer ME, Suplicz S, Palmeri JL, et al. Descriptions of Three Newly Discovered Abyssal Snailfishes (Liparidae) from the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Ichthyology & Herpetology. 2025;113(3):487–506. doi: 10.1643/i2024069
Cryptic diversity in deep-sea snailfishes require imaging, morphological, and genetic approaches. Ventral suction disk to cling to rocks, forming a curled, snail-like posture. Scaleless bodies, elongated body forms. Snailfishes inhabit multiple deep-sea habitats worldwide.
Opercular flap terminates in triangle with some fleshiness
snout deep
“Head strikingly textured with small, soft, fleshy prickles giving skin a bumpy texture, covering the full body but especially prominent on the head of the fish” (p493)
Bumpy Snailfish/Careproctus colliculi
- bumpy
- pink color
- round head
- large eye
- large suction disk
Dark Snailfish/Careproctus yanceyi
- dark
- ventral suction disk
- single nostrils
- black body
- rounded head
- horizontal mouth
Sleek Snailfish/Paraliparis em
- long, black, laterally compressed body
- no suction disk
- prominently angled jaw
- anteriorly positioned anus
saltygeographies 