ocean pout
Zoarces americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The ocean pout (Zoarces americanus) is an eelpout in the family Zoarcidae. It is found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of New England and eastern Canada. The fish has antifreeze proteins in its blood, giving it the ability to survive in near-freezing waters.
Wikipedia contributors, Ocean pout; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:53:33.931528+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Zoarces americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Name authority
- (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Common name
- ocean pout
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Zoarcidae
- Genus
- Zoarces
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderZoarcoidei
- familyZoarcidae Swainson, 1839
- subfamilyZoarcinae Swainson, 1839
- genusZoarces Cuvier, 1829
- speciesZoarces americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Zoarces. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Zoarces fedorovi Chereshnev, Nazarkin & Chegodaeva, 2007 | ZoarcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| eelpoutZoarces viviparus (Linnaeus, 1758) | ZoarcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Andriashev’s eelpoutZoarces andriashevi Parin, Grigoryev & Karmovskaya, 2005 | ZoarcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Notched-fin eelpoutZoarces elongatus Kner, 1868 | ZoarcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Zoarces gillii Jordan & Starks, 1905 | ZoarcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Zoarces gronovii Valenciennes, 1836 Valenciennes, 1836 | synonym |
| Blennius gronovii (Valenciennes, 1836) (Valenciennes, 1836) | synonym |
| Blennius labrosus Mitchill, 1815 Mitchill, 1815 | synonym |
| Blennius americanus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Bloch & Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
| Blennius ciliatus Mitchill, 1814 Mitchill, 1814 | synonym |
| Macrozoarces americanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) | synonym |
| Zoarces anguillaris (Peck, 1804) (Peck, 1804) | synonym |
| Blennius viviparus unicolor Walbaum, 1792 Walbaum, 1792 | synonym |
| Blennius anguillaris Peck, 1804 Peck, 1804 | ambiguous synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159267 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5D67D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.