Marbled Snailfish (Liparis dennyi) found on Oregon Coast

[AquaticEngineer]

From what I have read I thought these were only found as far south as Northern Washington/Puget Sound.

But I found 4 of what look to be Marbled Snailfish along the Oregon Coast last weekend near Newport.

Is this a first time sighting this far south?

Here's the pictures of them.

[CaptnJack]

The marbled is a deepwater species. So I think you have a striped variant of a different snailfish. I am no snailfish expert but it might be a showy (Liparis pulchellus)

[Greg Jensen]

From what is visible of the tail, it's definitely not a showy and probably not a marbled- the dorsal and anal fins don't appear to be extending onto the tail. Given that, the little dorsal fin visible in the second picture, and the stripes, and my best guess would be a slimy snailfish, Liparis mucosus.

[AquaticEngineer]

I have some other snailfish right now such as a Ribbon Snailfish, Tidepool Snailfish, Lobefin Snailfish in holding tanks I'll see if I can get a side by side of them to compare the dorsal fins to these striped ones.

Definetly not a showy snailfish, the fin structure isnt right and the pattern isnt uniform enough, which is why I thought maybe the marbled. I cant seem to find any other instances of striping on any other snailfish in the PNW other than the Marbled and the Showy though.

I'll see what I can find out about the Slimy Snailfish and see if there is any other instances that I can compare it to.