Pholidae

Gunnels
Crescent gunnel, Pholis laeta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Pholidae Gill, 1893
Genera
Apodichthys Pholis Rhodymenichthys

The gunnels are a family, Pholidae, of marine fishes in the order Perciformes. They are elongated, somewhat eel-like fishes that range from the intertidal zone to depths of 200 m (660 ft), though the majority are found in shallow waters. Most are restricted to the North Pacific, ranging as far south as Baja California and East China. The only exceptions are Pholis gunnellus from the North Atlantic,^[1] and P. fasciata from the Arctic Sea, North Atlantic and North Pacific.^[2] They typically reach a maximum length of 20–30 cm (8–12 in), but Apodichthys flavidus reaches 46 cm (18 in).^[3] They eat small crustaceans and molluscs.

Species

The 15 species in three genera are:

• Genus Apodichthys Girard, 1854
  • Penpoint gunnel, A. flavidus Girard, 1854
  • Rockweed gunnel, A. fucorum Jordan & Gilbert, 1880
  • Kelp gunnel, A. sanctaerosae (Gilbert & Starks, 1897)
• Genus Pholis Scopoli, 1777
  • Longfin gunnel, P. clemensi Rosenblatt, 1964.
  • P. crassispina (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845).
  • P. fangi (Wang & Wang, 1935).
  • Banded gunnel, P. fasciata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801).
  • Rock gunnel, P. gunnellus (Linnaeus, 1758).
  • Crescent gunnel, P. laeta (Cope, 1873).
  • P. nea Peden & Hughes, 1984.
  • Tidepool gunnel, P. nebulosa (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845).
  • Saddleback gunnel, P. ornata (Girard, 1854).
  • P. picta (Kner, 1868).
  • Red gunnel, P. schultzi Schultz, 1931.
• Genus Rhodymenichthys Jordan and Evermann, 1896
  • Stippled gunnel, R. dolichogaster (Pallas, 1814).

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Pholidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• "Pholidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 25 March 2006.