Teleostei (teleosts) >
Perciformes/Cottoidei (Sculpins) >
Liparidae (Snailfishes)
Etymology: Paraliparis: Greek, para = the side of + Greek, liparis = fat (Ref. 45335); bullacephalus: Named for its large, round head covered with gelatinous tissue; from Latin words 'bulla' meaning bubble and 'cephalus' for head.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 233 - 322 m (Ref. 82595). Temperate
Gulf of Alaska.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 6.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 82595); 9.4 cm SL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 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).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.
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).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Busby, M.S. and R.L. Cartwright, 2009. Paraliparis adustus and Paraliparis bullacephalus: two new snailfish species (Teleostei: Liparidae) from Alaska. Ichthyol. Res. 56:245-252. (Ref. 82595)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 4.1 - 6.4, mean 5.1 °C (based on 9 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00525 (0.00237 - 0.01161), b=3.15 (2.96 - 3.34), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
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