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Robust Assfish (Bassozetus robustus), family Ophidiidae, order Ophidiiformes, found in the deep ocean in tropical and temperate parts of the world

photograph by Alan Jamieson

#assfish #cusk eel #bassozetus #ophidiidae #ophidiiformes #bony fish #fish #ichthyology #animals #nature #ocean

Day 132#: Bony-Eared Assfish

Today's animal of the day is the Bony-Eared Assfish (Acanthonus armatus)!

Photo credit: NOAA

This charmingly named species of deep-sea fish can be found in tropical and subtropical oceans around the world at depths between 3,842 to 14,485 feet. They are a member of the cusk-eel family, which aren't actually true eels. Instead, they belong to the Percomprpha clad, which also includes tuna, perches, and seahorses, along with many other types of fish. Like many other deep-sea fish, they have very soft and flabby bodies with few muscles and thin skeletons to help them adapt to the high water pressure in their environment. They also have one of the smallest brain-to-body weight ratios of any living vertebrate animal, though there is currently some debate over whether or not lampreys and the ocean sunfish have them beat. Luckily, when you send your time floating in the darkness waiting for food to drift by, you don't need to be all that smart.

Photo credit: NOAA

This species was first discovered during the Challenger Expedition, which took place from 1872 to 1876, just north of the coast of New Guinea. Once the first specimen was collected, it wouldn't be until 1878 when it was finally named and described by German ichthyologist Albert Günther. The "bony-eared" part of their name comes from the spikes on their gills and the tip of their nose, and the "ass" part of their name comes from a sort of purposeful mistranslation of their genus name. See, Acanthonus is made of the Greek word Acanth, which means "spined", and onus, which means either "hake" (which is a type of fish in the cod family) or "donkey". A bunch of marine biologists thought it would be funny to purposefully use the donkey translation so they could call it an "assfish". So, while their name has nothing to do with butts, I know there's nothing that I can do to stop people from bullying this very stupid fish with an even more stupid name.