Mote sculpin

The mote sculpin was first described by the American zoologist Howard Walton Clark in 1937 from the harbour at Valparaiso in Chile. The fish seemed to have few affinities with other known species, and a new genus and family were erected to accommodate it. This fish is classified within the order Scorpaeniformes in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World but it is so unusual that it is placed in its own suborder Normanichthyiodei and family Normanichthyidae. Other authorities differ and do not consider the Scorpaeniformes to be a valid order because the Perciformes is not monophyletic without the taxa within the Scorpaeniformes being included within it. The generic name Normanichthys being given in honour of the British ichthyologist John Roxborough Norman who was taking part in Discovery Investigations at the time, undertaking research into whales and their ecology in the Southern Ocean. ==Description==

The mote sculpin is a fairly slender fish with a maximum length of about , with the anus approximately halfway along the body. It has 1 spine and 5 pelvic fin rays, and 7 and 6 principal rays in the caudal fin. Internally, it has 36 to 37 myomeres (blocks of muscle). The body is covered with ctenoid scales, the head is unarmoured and there is a single spine and 5 fin rays in the pelvic fins. There are no ribs. This fish reaches a maximum published total length of . ==Distribution and habitat==

The mote sculpin is found in tropical South Pacific waters, from Chimbote, Peru, to Isla Mocha, Chile, where it is found at depths from . ==References==