Anarhichadidae

Wolffish
Atlantic wolffish, Anarhichas lupus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Anarhichadidae Bonaparte, 1846
Genera
Anarhichas Anarrhichthys See text for species.

The wolffish are a family, Anarhichadidae, of perciform fish. They are native to cold waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where they live on the continental shelf and slope, to depths of about 600 m (2,000 ft). They are bottom-feeders, eating hard-shelled invertebrates such as clams, echinoderms and crustaceans, which they crush with strong canine and molar teeth. The longest species, Anarrhichthys ocellatus, grows to more than 2 m (6.6 ft) in length.

Species

The five species in two genera are:

• Genus Anarhichas
  • Northern wolffish, Anarhichas denticulatus Krøyer, 1845.
  • Atlantic wolffish or sea wolf, Anarhichas lupus Linnaeus, 1758.
  • Spotted wolffish, Anarhichas minor Olafsen, 1772.
  • Bering wolffish, Anarhichas orientalis Pallas, 1814.
• Genus Anarrhichthys
  • Wolf eel, Anarrhichthys ocellatus Ayres, 1855.

Timeline of genera

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2004). "Anarhichadidae" in FishBase. October 2004 version.
• "Anarhichadidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=171335. Retrieved 5 December 2004. 
• Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class. Retrieved 2011-05-18.