Careproctus - Butt-face fishes
Description
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 5,459 m (20–17,910 ft). 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 (kara, face, head) and πρωκτός (prōktos, anus), therefore literally meaning butt-face.
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 (1.8 ft) 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.
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.
