Aiakas eelpouts are differentiated from related genera by having the lower lip attached to the mandibular symphysis, the nostril tubes do not overlap the upper lip, and they have teeth on the oral valve, vomer and palatine bone. There are no pelvic fins or papillae on the skin. The flesh is not gelatinous and they have scales. A. kresffti has 18 or 19 fin rays in the pectoral fin, no pore on the intraorbital region and 6 suborbital pores. A. zimorum has 14 or 15 fin rays in the pectoral fin, a pore on the intraorbital region and 5 suborbital pores.[6]
Distribution and habitat
Aiakas eelpouts are bathydemersal fishes of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean living at depths greater than 500 m (1,600 ft).[7][8]
^M. Eric Anderson and Atila E. Gosztonyi (1991). "Studies on the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) of the Southern Hemisphere IV. New records and a new species from the Magellan Province of South America". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 55: 1–16.