This curious looking fish can be distinguished from other manefish by its long
dorsal fin, which originates near its head. Because of the steep slope of its
head and its large eye, this fish has a perpetually surprised look. Its dorsal
fin runs the length of the back, but the part near the head is much longer than
the rest of the fin. Its caudal fin is slightly rounded, while its anal fin runs
from the caudal peduncle to over halfway up the belly. Its pelvic fins are long
and inserted directly below the head, while the pectoral fins are small and located
just behind the gill slit. One row of sharp teeth lines the sides of the jaws
and 2–5 rows occur in the front of the mouth. Its body colour is pinkish-brown
with black fins. Although this species reaches a maximum size of 30 cm, the largest
Canadian specimen was 25 cm in length.
The Greenland manefish is very rare, but it has been reported off the coast of
Nova Scotia northwards to Davis Strait. The relationship between this species
and the common manefish is unclear and reports of Greenland manefish in the Pacific
need to be verified. In total, only 9 specimens have been captured off the Atlantic
coast of Canada, but one was brought up from a depth of 1660 m.
