Sea raven

Blepsias cirrhosus

The 3 genera and 8 species of cormorants ( Hemitripteridae ) live in the northwestern Atlantic and the North Pacific, usually on the ground, even at greater depths of 200 to 400 meters. They feed on small invertebrates.

Features

Head and body of the cormorants are covered with skin tag and spines. Cormorants have two dorsal fins, the first with 6-19 hard jets, the second with 11-30 soft rays. The pelvic fins have a hard and three soft rays. They have a full page line with more than 35 open pores. A swim bladder is absent. In the genus Hemitripterus the color when the same kind often varies depending on the habitat. Cormorants are a maximum of 70 inches tall.

Genera and species

• Blepsias Blepsias bilobus Cuvier, in 1829.
• Blepsias cirrhosus ( Pallas, 1811).

• Hemitripterus americanus ( Gmelin, 1789).
• Hemitripterus bolini ( Myers, 1934).
• Hemitripterus villosus ( Pallas, 1814).

• Nautichthys oculofasciatus ( Girard, 1858).
• Nautichthys pribilovius ( Jordan & Gilbert, 1898).
• Nautichthys robustus Peden, 1970.