Untitled - Alaska Resources Library

Family Bythitidae — Livebearing Brotulas or Viviparous Brotulas
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Brosmophycis marginata (Ayres, 1854). Red Brotula. To 46 cm (18 in) TL (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983),
reported to 50.8 cm (20 in) TL (Miller and Lea 1976). Petersburg, southeastern Alaska (Schultz and
Delacy 1936; documented by UW 2589 [Mecklenburg et al. 2002]) to Ensenada, northern Baja California
(Miller and Lea 1972). However, larvae have been taken along much of the northern and central Baja
California coast south to Punta Eugenia (Moser et al. 1993). Rocky areas at depths of 3–256 m (10–
840 ft; Miller and Lea 1972).
Cataetyx rubrirostris Gilbert, 1890. Rubynose Brotula. To 15.7 cm (6.2 in) TL (Kong et al. 1988). If the
South American form is not this species, the maximum length is 13 cm (5.2 in) TL (Eschmeyer and
Herald 1983). Northern Oregon to south Islas Coronados, northern Baja California (Gibbs 1991).
Punta Coles, Peru (Chirichigno and Vélez 1998) to central Chile (Sielfeld and Vargas 1996). Specimens
from South America may be this or an undescribed species (Nielsen and Cohen in Nielsen et al. 1999).
Juveniles mesopelagic, larger individuals benthic at 432 m (1,417 ft; Lauth 1999) to 900 m (2,952 ft;
Gibbs 1991).
Grammonus diagrammus (Heller & Snodgrass, 1903). Purple Brotula. To 20.3 cm (8 in) TL (Miller and Lea
1972). San Clemente Island (Miller and Lea 1972) and Santa Catalina Island (Richards and Engle 2001)
to Ecuador (Béarez 1996), including Gulf of California, Islas Galápagos (Miller and Lea 1972), and
Islas Revillagigedo (Robertson and Allen 2002). At depths of 6–18 m (18–60 ft; Miller and Lea 1972).
Recently as Oligopus diagrammus.
Ogilbia ventralis (Gill, 1863). Gulf Brotula or Gulf Cusk-eel. To 10 cm (3.9 in) TL (Grove and Lavenberg
1997). Bahia Magdalena, southern Baja California (Thomson et al. 1979) to Panama, including Gulf of
California (Allen and Robertson 1994) and Islas Galápagos (Grove and Lavenberg 1997). Intertidal and
shallow waters (min.: Grove and Lavenberg 1997; max.: Allen and Robertson 1994) to perhaps 30 m
(98 ft; Robertson and Allen 2002). Originally classified in genus Brosmophycis. Although sometimes
seen with parentheses omitted, the author and date of publication of the name Ogilbia ventralis belong
in parentheses to indicate the species was moved to another genus.
Ogilbia spp. Numerous undescribed species of Ogilbia exist (Nielsen and Cohen in Nielsen et al. 1999:135),
and at least one ranges as far north in eastern North Pacific as Bahia Todos Santos, northern Baja
California (Thomson et al. 2000).
*Thalassobathia pelagica Cohen, 1963. Pelagic Brotula. To 26 cm (10.2 in) SL. Temperate to tropical waters
of Atlantic Ocean; one possible record from Commander Basin, western Bering Sea. Mesopelagic, at
depths of about 500–1,000 m (1,640–3,281 ft). The Bering Sea specimen, which is the only one reported
from the Pacific, was reported by Balanov and Fedorov (1996), who cautioned that the identification is
disputable. If not T. pelagica, it may be an undescribed species. All in Mecklenburg et al. (2002).
Family Aphyonidae — Aphyonids
Barathronus pacificus Nielson & Eagle, 1974. To 12.8 cm (5 in) SL (Nielsen and Eagle 1974). Between
Australia and New Zealand (Okiyama and Kato 1997); Oregon to northern California (Matarese et al.
1989). Benthopelagic (Nielsen and Cohen in Nielsen et al. 1999), at depths of 3,334–3,860 m (10,938–
12,664 ft) (min.: Nielsen and Eagle 1974; max.: Pearcy et al. 1982).
Sciadonus pedicellaris Garman, 1899. To 10.2 cm (4 in) TL (McEachran and Fechhelm 1998). North Atlantic
and eastern Pacific; Oregon (Matarese et al. 1989) to Chile (Pequeño 1989). Benthopelagic (Nielsen
and Cohen in Nielsen et al. 1999), at depths of 1,847–4,880 m (6,060–16,010 ft) (min.: McEachran and
Fechhelm 1998; max.: Nielsen and Cohen in Nielsen et al. 1999).