Enophrys

Enophrys is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Psychrolutidae, the marine sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Enophrys Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Potential Eocene record
Buffalo Sculpin (E. bison)
Antlered Sculpin (E. diceraus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Suborder:	Cottoidei
Family:	Psychrolutidae
Genus:	Enophrys Swainson, 1839
Type species
Cottus claviger Cuvier, 1829[1]
Synonyms[1]
Aspicottus Girard, 1854 Ceratocottus Gill, 1859 Clypeocottus Ayres, 1854

Taxonomy

Enophrys was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1839 by the English zoologist William Swainson with its only and type species being Cottus claviger.^[1] This species had been described in 1839 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier from Kamchatka but it was later determined to be a synonym of Cottus diceraus, originally described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1787, also from Kamchatka.^[2] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae,^[3] however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Myoxocephalinae of the family Psychrolutidae,^[1] although others place the subfamily Myoxocephalinae within the Cottidae.^[4]

Etymology

Enophrys prefixes phrys, meaning "brow", with en, ning "very", presumed to be a reference to the thick orbital ridge of the type species.^[5]

Species

Enophrys contains 4 recognized species within it:^[6]

• Enophrys bison (Girard, 1854) (Buffalo sculpin)
• Enophrys diceraus (Pallas, 1787) (Antlered sculpin)
• Enophrys lucasi (D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1898) (Leister sculpin)
• Enophrys taurina C. H. Gilbert, 1914 (Bull sculpin)

The fossil species †Enophrys hoplites Nazarkin, 2017 is known from complete fossil skeletons recovered from the Middle Miocene-aged Agnevo Formation of Sakhalin, Russia. In addition, the potential fossil species †Enophrys euglyphus Stinton, 1966 is known from isolated otoliths recovered from the Early Eocene-aged London Clay of England.^[7]

Characteristics

Enophrys sculpins share the possession of plates along their lateral lines and some species have prickly scales underneath the lateral line. They also have a very long, sharp spine on the upper preoperculum and sharp spines on the nose.^[8] The bull sculpin is the smallest species with a maximum recorded total length of 17 cm (6.7 in) while the largest species is the buffalo sculpin which reaches a maximum published total length of 37 cm (15 in).^[6]

Distribution

Enophrys sculpins are only found in the northern and Eastern Pacific Oceans from the Sea of Japan to California.^[6]