Liparis Scopoli, 1777
Two pairs of nostrils in most species. Ventral sucking disc large. Pseudobranch present. Pyloric caeca present. Teeth trilobed or simple, usually the former.
Benthic or occasionally pelagic from tide-pools to approximately 300 m. Attach to or under smooth rocks, algae, etc. with sucking disc. Feeding primarily on benthic or pelagic crustaceans, occasionally fish and polychaetes. Reproduction during winter, spring and early summer. Eggs benthic, adhesive, deposited among hydroids or algae, usually 1.0-2.7 mm diameter. Larvae pelagic.
Species about 50-60; in Clofnam area 3 (a revision in progress by the author suggests that L. Liparis, as presently recognized, may be a complex containing several species).
Recent revisions: Burke (1930), Parr (1932), Able and McAllister (1980).
Species of this genus in the program:
Liparis fabricii
Liparis liparis
Liparis montagui