Sea raven

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Sea raven
Silverspotted sculpin, Blepsias cirrhosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Scorpaeniformes Family: Hemitripteridae
Genera
Blepsias Hemitripterus Nautichthys See text for species.

Sea ravens are a family, Hemitripteridae of scorpaeniform fishes. They are bottom-dwelling fishes that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific oceans. They are covered in small spines (modified scales).

[edit] Species

There are eight species in three genera:

• Genus Blepsias
  • Crested sculpin, Blepsias bilobus Cuvier, 1829.
  • Silverspotted sculpin, Blepsias cirrhosus (Pallas, 1811).
• Genus Hemitripterus
  • Sea raven, Hemitripterus americanus (Gmelin, 1789).
  • Bigmouth sculpin, Hemitripterus bolini (Myers, 1934).
  • Sea raven, Hemitripterus villosus (Pallas, 1814).
• Genus Nautichthys
  • Sailfin sculpin, Nautichthys oculofasciatus (Girard, 1858).
  • Eyeshade sculpin, Nautichthys pribilovius (Jordan & Gilbert, 1898).
  • Shortmast sculpin, Nautichthys robustus Peden, 1970.

[edit] References

• "Hemitripteridae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.