NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Pacific viperfish

Chauliodus macouni Bean, 1890

Source-backed taxonomic record

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.

Head of a pacific Viperfish caught during trawling operations.
Image ID: fish4037, NOAA's Fisheries Collection
Location: Alaska, Southeast

Photo Date: 2001 — Head of a pacific Viperfish caught during trawling operations. Image ID: fish4037, NOAA's Fisheries Collection Location: Alaska, Southeast Photo Date: 2001
David Csepp, NMFS/AKFSC/ABL · Public domain · Image source
Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Pacific viperfish (Chauliodus macouni), is a predatory deep-sea fish found in the North Pacific. It is reported as being either mesopelagic or bathypelagic, with diel vertical migration to shallower waters. The Pacific viperfish is one of the nine different species that belong to the genus Chauliodus, the viperfish. The Pacific viperfish tend to be the largest of the species, typically reaching lengths of up to 1 foot and are considered an example of deep-sea gigantism. The length-weight relationship of the pacific viperfish varies with sex with females tending to be longer and heavier than males.

Wikipedia contributors, Pacific viperfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:44:03.928394+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Chauliodus macouni Bean, 1890
Name authority: Bean, 1890
Common name: Pacific viperfish
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Stomiiformes
Family: Stomiidae
Genus: Chauliodus
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
orderStomiiformes
familyStomiidae Bleeker, 1859
subfamilyChauliodontinae Bonaparte, 1845
genusChauliodus Bloch & Schneider, 1801
speciesChauliodus macouni Bean, 1890

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Chauliodus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
Chauliodus vasnetzovi Novikova, 1972	StomiidaeChordata	Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Chauliodus barbatus Garman, 1899	StomiidaeChordata	Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Chauliodus dentatus Garman, 1899	StomiidaeChordata	Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Chauliodus schmidti Ege, 1948	StomiidaeChordata	Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 236 records assigned to Stomiidae.

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.

Bean, T. H. (1890). Scientific results of explorations by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross. No. XI. New fishes collected off the coast of Alaska and the adjacent region southward. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 13 (795): 37–45. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.13-795.37 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.

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:TQPT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.