Macrouridae

Macrouridae [mə′kru̇r·ə‚dē]

(vertebrate zoology)

The grenadiers, a family of actinopterygian fishes in the order Gadiformes in which the body tapers to a point, and the dorsal, caudal, and anal fins are continuous.

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Macrouridae 

(grenadiers or rattails), a family of fish of the order Macrouriformes, related to the order Anacanthini. There are five subfamilies comprising a significant number of genera. The Macrouridae are distributed primarily in the northern areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at depths of 250 to 5,000 m. In the USSR they are found in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk and in the western parts of the Barents Sea. Most characteristic are the representatives of the genus Macrourus, which have an elongated body (up to 1 m) with a very long tapered tail that ends in a filament. The first dorsal fin is short and high, and the second dorsal fin and the anal fin are low and long, merging with the caudal fin, which is almost indistinguishable. The body color is dark gray or black. Its economic importance is slight.