Pholis

Pholis is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pholidae, the gunnels. These fishes are found in shallow coastal waters of the North Pacific, Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.

Taxonomy

Pholis was first proposed as a genus in 1777 by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli. The type species was later designated to be Blennius gunnellus, which Linnaeus had described in 1758 in the 10th edition of the Systema Naturae. The genus is the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Pholinae, one of two subfamilies in the family Pholidae. The genus name Pholis is an Ancient Greek name for a fish that hides in a hole, the name dating at least as far back in history to Aristotle.

Species

Pholis contains 11 species:

Characteristics

Philos species have the elongate, compressed bodies of other gunnels. They differ on that there is no interorbital pore and that the head lacks scales or has small scales which are only present in larger adults. These fishes vary in maximum published total length varying from in P. nea and in P. picta.

Distribution, habitat and biology

Pholis gunnels are predominantly found in the temperate and boreal wasters of the North Pacific Ocean but P. fasciatus and P. gunnellus are found in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, the only gunnels to occur outside the Pacific Ocean. These fishes are found in rocky areas in the intertidal zone and in the shallow waters below the low tide mark. They feed on invertebrates and fish eggs. They are oviparous, laying eggs in a large mass which is guarded.