Home/Species/ Prowfish

Zaprora silenus

Jordan, 1896

Prowfish

G4Apparently Secure (G4G5) Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103147

Element CodeAFCSH01010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassActinopterygii

OrderPerciformes

FamilyZaproridae

GenusZaprora

Concept Reference

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Current taxonomy distinguishes Zaprora silenus as the only species and the only genus in the family Zaproridae (Jordan and Evermann 1898, Mecklenburg 2003, Smith et al. 2004). The relationship of this family to other fishes has been problematic; McAllister and Krejsa (1961) classified the prowfishes in the superfamily Stichaeoidae (northern blennioids) and suggested that they are most closely related to the Stichaeidae (pricklebacks). Following McAllister and Kresja (1961), Nelson (1984) classified the Zaproridae in the suborder Zoarcoidei, an expanded group of northern blennylike fishes; however, no further work has been done to elucidate the relationships of Zaprora within the suborder Zoarcoidei (Mecklenburg 2003).

Conservation Status

Review Date2008-01-25

Change Date2005-12-13

Edition Date2008-01-25

Rank Reasons

Population abundance and trends are unknown; low occurrence in trawl data may simply indicate that habitat is poorly sampled by bottom trawls. Widespread coastal distribution; known centers of greatest abundance in the eastern North Pacific are in the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Degree of bycatch in commercial fisheries is unknown but of potential concern.

Range Extent Comments

North Pacific: Bering Sea south to San Miguel Island, California and Hokkaido, Japan including the Okhotsk Sea (Allen and Smith 1988, Mecklenburg et al. 2002).

Ecology & Habitat

Other Nations (2)

CanadaN4

Province	Rank	Native
British Columbia	SNR	Yes

United StatesNNR

Province	Rank	Native
Alaska	S4	Yes

Roadless Areas (2)

Alaska (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
North Kruzof	Tongass National Forest	33,146
Tenakee Ridge	Tongass National Forest	20,527

References (12)

Abookire, A.A., J.F. Piatt, and B.L. Norcross. 2001. Juvenile groundfish habitat in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, during late summer. Alaska Fishery Research Bulletin 8:45-56.
Allen, M.J. and G.B. Smith. 1988. Atlas and zoogeography of common fishes in the Bering Sea and northeastern Pacific. NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service Technical Report 66. Seattle, WA. 151 pp.
Brodeur, R.D. 1998. <i>In situ </i>observations of the association between juvenile fishes and scyphomedusae in the Bering Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 163:11-20.
Jordan, D.S. and B.W. Evermann. 1898. The fishes of North and Middle America: a descriptive catalogue of the species of fish-like vertebrates found in the waters of North America north of the Isthmus of Panama. Part III. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. No. 47.
McAllister, D.E., and R.J. Krejsa. 1961. Placement of the prowfishes, Zaproridae, in the superfamily Stichaeoidae. Natural History Papers of the National Museum of Canada No. II: 1-4. Ottawa, ONT.
Mecklenburg, C.W. 2003. Family Pholidae Gill 1893. California Academy of Sciences annotated checklists of fishes, No. 9.
Mecklenburg, C. W., T. A. Mecklenburg, and L. K. Thorsteinson. 2002. Fishes of Alaska. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. xxxvii + 1,037 pp.
Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Smith, K.R., D.A. Somerton, M-S. Yang, and D.G. Nichol. 2004. Distribution and biology of prowfish (<i>Zaprora silenus</i>) in the northeast Pacific. Fish. Bull. 102:168-178.