Sea raven

Sea raven
Silverspotted sculpin, Blepsias cirrhosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scorpaeniformes
Family:	Hemitripteridae
Genera
Blepsias Hemitripterus Nautichthys See text for species.

Sea ravens are a family, Hemitripteridae of scorpaeniform fishes. They are bottom-dwelling fishes that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific oceans. They are covered in small spines (modified scales).

Species

There are eight species in three genera:

• Genus Blepsias
  • Crested sculpin, Blepsias bilobus Cuvier, 1829.
  • Silverspotted sculpin, Blepsias cirrhosus (Pallas, 1811).
• Genus Hemitripterus
  • Sea raven, Hemitripterus americanus (Gmelin, 1789).
  • Bigmouth sculpin, Hemitripterus bolini (Myers, 1934).
  • Sea raven, Hemitripterus villosus (Pallas, 1814).
• Genus Nautichthys
  • Sailfin sculpin, Nautichthys oculofasciatus (Girard, 1858).
  • Eyeshade sculpin, Nautichthys pribilovius (Jordan & Gilbert, 1898).
  • Shortmast sculpin, Nautichthys robustus Peden, 1970.

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Hemitripteridae" in FishBase. February 2006 version.