Anarhichadidae

This article is about the family of saltwater fish. For freshwater wolf fish, see Erythrinidae.

Wolffish
Northern wolffish, Anarhichas denticulatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Anarhichadidae Bonaparte, 1832
Genera
Anarhichas Anarrhichthys See text for species.

The wolffish, also known as sea wolves, are a family, Anarhichadidae, of perciform fish. There are three types of wolffish: the spotted Wolffish, the Atlantic Wolffish, and the Northern Atlantic Wolffish. 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 metres (2,000 feet; 330 fathoms). They are bottom-feeders, eating hard-shelled invertebrates such as clams, echinoderms, and crustaceans, which they crush with their strong canine and molar teeth. The longest species, Anarrhichthys ocellatus, grows to more than 2 m (6 ft 7 in) 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

• "Anarhichadidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 December 2004.
• Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
• “The Wolffishes (Family : Anarhichadidae).” Finfish Aquaculture Diversification, by R. Le François Nathalie, CABI, 2010, pp. 417–418.