Abyssocottinae

The Abyssocottinae are a subfamily of ray-finned fishes in the family Cottidae, the sculpins. They are known commonly as the deep-water sculpins.<ref name=fb>Froese, R. and D. Pauly. (Eds.) Abyssocottidae. FishBase. 2011.</ref> The entire subfamily is endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia.<ref name=hunt>Hunt, D. M., et al. (1997). Molecular evolution of the cottoid fish endemic to Lake Baikal deduced from nuclear DNA evidence. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 8(3), 415–22.</ref>

Sculpins of this subfamily mostly live in deep water, below Template:Cvt.<ref name=fb/> There are 24 known species in seven genera.<ref name=fb/><ref name=itis/> These include, for instance, Abyssocottus korotneffi and Cottinella boulengeri which are among the deepest-living freshwater fish.<ref>Jakubowski, M. (1997). Morphometry of gill respiratory area in the Baikalian deep-water sculpins Abyssocottus korotneffi and Cottinella boulengeri (Abyssocottidae, Cottoidei). Journal of Morphology 233(2), 105–12.</ref> Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth (Template:Cvt) and sculpins occupy even its greatest depths.<ref name=hunt/>

Evolution and systematics

Molecular studies based on mitochondrial DNA suggest that the Abyssocottinae along with other Lake Baikal cottoid fishes, now attributed to the likewise endemic Cottocomephorinae (Baikal sculpins) and Comephorinae (Baikal oilfish), together make a monophyletic group that has originated and diversified within the lake relative recently, since the Pliocene. The ancestors of this species flock comprising more than 30 species belonged to the widespread freshwater sculpin genus Cottus (in Cottidae). The Abyssocottidae itself appears as a natural group within this radiation, except that also the genus Batrachocottus should be included.<ref name = Kontula>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Genera

The following genera have been included in the subfamily:<ref name = S&B2014>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Linked genus list