Paraliparis bullacephalus Busby & Cartwright, 2009
Bubble-head snailfish

Family:  Liparidae (Snailfishes)
Max. size:  6.2 cm SL (male/unsexed); 9.4 cm SL (female)
Environment:  bathypelagic; marine; depth range 233 - 322 m
Distribution:  Gulf of Alaska.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 60-60; Anal soft rays: 53-55; Vertebrae: 63-64. The species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: D 60; A 53-55; pectoral-fin rays 20-21; caudal-fin rays 6; vertebrae 63-64; dorsal contour of head rounded to snout, covered with gelatinous tissue; short snout with rounded tip projecting past upper jaw; small mouth, horizontal, inferior, with cleft reaching to nearly vertical below center of eye; large eye with dorsal margin level with or slightly above top of gill opening; large opercular flap, rounded, projecting slightly toward dorsal; upper lobe of pectoral fin with 15 rays, one in notch, and 4 or 5 in lower lobe, both lobes extending beyond anal-fin origin; cephalic pores are equal to or smaller in diameter than nostril; suprabranchial pore elevated, anterior of gill opening a distance about equal to opercular flap width; 3 pyloric caeca (Ref. 82595).
Biology:  The male (5.30 and 6.20 cm) specimens appear to be mature, while the female (9.40 cm) was mature with ovaries containing numerous mature and immature, spherical, pale-colored, opaque, yolked oocytes, ranging in diameter from 0.20-2.12 mm; from gross observation, there appear to be fewer than 100 eggs in each ovary. Specimens were collected with a 60 cm bongo net, epibenthic sled and bottom trawl (Ref. 82595).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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