Family Hexagrammidae
(Greenlings and Lingcod)
Diagnosis:
-
Moderate size; moderately elongate
-
Six branchiostegal rays
-
Posterior nostril reduced or absent
-
Teeth small; gill membranes joined (except in
Ophiodon
)
-
Slit behind last gill arch
-
Pelvic fins are thoracic
-
Seven species in British Columbia waters.
Hexagrammos lagocephalus
(Rock Greenling),
Hexagrammos octogrammus
(Masked Greenling) and
Zaniolepis latipinnus
(Longspine Combfish) are not included here.
Remarks:
many species of hexagrammids (with the exception of
Ophiodon
) have primarily ctenoid scales. However, some species also have cycloid scales on specific regions of the body. Ctenoid numbers, patterns, or meristics are not determined. All the species of
Hexagrammos
in this atlas can be considered to have distinctively "greenling" scales, as all have a similar morphology with differences primarily in size.
