Alaska eelpout

The Alaska Eelpout is a saltwater fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, a large family of elongated, eel-like fishes distributed throughout cold and deep oceanic environments worldwide. Described scientifically as <em>Bothrocara pusillum</em>, this species attains a maximum recorded length of approximately 14.5 cm. It inhabits deep benthic and mesopelagic environments, with documented depth records spanning 221 to 2,189 metres, indicating a preference for abyssal and lower bathypelagic zones. Zoarcids are adapted to the cold, high-pressure conditions of deep-sea habitats, where they typically forage along muddy or sandy seafloor sediments for small invertebrates, worms, crustaceans, and carrion. <em>Bothrocara pusillum</em> is a slender species typical of its family, with a continuous dorsal-anal-caudal fin margin and reduced or absent pelvic fins in many genera. Its small body size relative to its extreme depth range is notable. Eelpouts in the genus Bothrocara are known from cold North Pacific and Arctic waters. Details of habitat and range for this species remain limited in the ichthyological literature beyond its documented occurrence in the deep North Pacific. As with many deep-sea zoarcids, reproductive biology and dietary specifics for <em>Bothrocara pusillum</em> have not been thoroughly characterized in available scientific literature.