Curled up

  

Quick shot of a snailfish (Liparis sp.) photographed in the rocky intertidal zone on 14 July 2022

Seeing stripes

We've been doing low tide intertidal surveys during the past couple of nights.  On 10 January 2020, Eric looked down to see this amazing fish:

 

I think this is a Slimy Snailfish (Liparis mucosus).  We hadn't seen this species before, so we took a few documentary photos for the record.

For scale, the fish was ~7-8 cm (~3 inches) long.  [Those are the blades of Stephanocystis (formerly Cystoseira) osmundacea surrounding the fish.]

The striped patterning was mesmerizing.  Here's a close-up of the head:

 

And an even closer one of that intriguing eye with the teardrop-shaped pupil:

 

Slimy Snailfish have a broad distribution from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.  The Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California (Miller and Lea, 1972) says they're uncommon.  Although there is a more common snailfish in our area (the Tidepool Snailfish, Liparis florae), it was fun to meet a different species!  (Thanks, Eric!)

Fun fact: The snailfish family includes a species that has occurred deeper in the ocean than any other fish — over 26,000 feet (~8 km) below the surface along the Mariana Trench.