Bathylutichthys taranetzi

The Antarctic bullhead ( Bathylutichthys taranetzi ) is a small fish from the partial order of Gropp relatives. It is only known from a single specimen that was caught from a depth of 1650 meters at South Georgia. She probably lives in the entire Southern Ocean. The Antarctic bullhead was placed in its own order monotypic family. The systematic position of the family within the Gropp family is uncertain.

Features

The Antarctic bullhead is only four inches long, with wide head makes up a third of the body length. It is scaleless. The animals in the dorsal fin 13 hard and 28 soft fin rays, the anal fin has 36 soft rays, hard jets are missing. The part located at the front of the dorsal fin is located under the skin. The small pelvic fins have only three soft rays. All fin rays are undivided. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins are merged and form a Flossensaum to the rear tapered body. A pair of long barbels can be found on the lower jaw to the mouth corners. Apart from the last two features are similar to the fish sculpin Psychrolutes.

The Antarctic bullhead has 49 vertebrae and seven Branchiostegalstrahlen. Vomer and palatine bones are edentulous. Antarctica bullheads have two pairs of external nostrils. The lateral line organ is on the hull without pores.