Bothrocara

[[Genus Bothrocara]]

The zoarcid genus Bothrocara Bean, 1890, includes several species of deepwater eelpouts distributed primarily along the North Pacific rim. Anderson (1994) recognized at least seven species, with the status of three nominal forms uncertain. He considered the genus to be the most primitive member of a “ Bothrocara-group clade ” including Bothrocara, Bothrocarina, Lycogrammoides, and Lycodapus (Anderson, 1994: fig. 16). Bothrocara is distinguished within the Zoarcidae by the absence of pelvic fins, absence of an oral valve, the number of suborbital bones (7-9), a weak palatopterygoid series, and a wide gill opening with a very narrow isthmus.