Anarrhichthys ocellatus  Ayres, 1855

Wolf-eel
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Anarrhichthys ocellatus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Anarhichadidae (Wolffishes)
Etymology: Anarrhichthys: Greek, anarhichaomai = to climb up + Greek, ichthys = fish;  ocellatus: ocellatus for the eye-like spots..   More on author: Ayres.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 226 m (Ref. 2850).   Temperate; 80°N - 26°N, 118°E - 111°W (Ref. 57366)

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 240 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4925); max. published weight: 18.4 kg (Ref. 27436)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 200. Dorsal with 228-250 spines. Caudal small. Anal with up to 233 rays.

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

North Pacific: Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan to the Krenitzen Islands, in the Aleutian chain and Imperial Beach, southern California, USA.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults seek shelter among rocks in subtidal areas (Ref. 2850) and will occupy the same shelter until driven out by larger wolf-eels or a large octopus (Ref. 28499). Juveniles are pelagic for up to two years (Ref. 28499). Feed on hard-shelled invertebrates and fishes (Ref. 2850). Both male and female wrap their body around the egg mass to keep the eggs in place and to deter predators (Ref. 58332). Large specimens can inflict a painful bite (Ref. 28499). Its flesh is tasty (Ref. 28499).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Not Evaluated 

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 2850)




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 1.0312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00383 (-0.18105 - 0.18871), b=3.18 (3.07 - 3.28), based on LWR estimates for this family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.53 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7; Fec=10,000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (85 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.