Grenadiers (fish)
Grenadiers or
rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the family
Macrouridae. Found at great depths from the Arctic to Antarctic, members of this family were amongst the most abundant of the deep-sea fish. The Macrouridae are a large and diverse family with some 34 genera and 383 species recognized. They range in length from about 10 cm in the graceful grenadier to 1.5 m in the giant grenadier,
Albatrossia pectoralis. An important commercial fishery exists for the larger species, such as the giant grenadier and roundnose grenadier,
Coryphaenoides rupestris. The family as a whole may represent up to 15% of the deep-sea fish population. Typified by large heads with large mouths and eyes, grenadiers have slender bodies that taper greatly to very thin caudal peduncles or tails: this rat-like tail explains the common name 'rattail' and the family name Macrouridae, from the Greek
makros meaning "great" and
oura meaning "tail". The first dorsal fin is small, high, and pointed; the second dorsal fin runs along the rest of the back and merges with the tail and extensive anal fin.