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Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Eelpout => Topic started by: IceRaider on Jan 17, 2013, 12:57 PM

Title: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: IceRaider on Jan 17, 2013, 12:57 PM

I tried to figure out if Burbot and Eelpout were the same kind of fish, but it turns out they're not.

These are Burbot (scientific name: Lota lota) http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=310&AT=burbot (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=310&AT=burbot)
(http://s9.postimage.org/x394ytrtr/burbot.jpg)

And these are Eelpout (scientific name: Zoarces viviparus) http://www.arcodiv.org/Fish/Eelpouts.html (http://www.arcodiv.org/Fish/Eelpouts.html)
(http://s9.postimage.org/9qb3gbbq7/eelpout.jpg)

Eelpout are saltwater fish found in Europe. Burbot are freshwater. If you look at Burbot, it has two distinct dorsal fins along its top, a caudal fin, and an anal fin. The Eelpout has one fin for all of these. Also, look at the head. The Burbot is very catfish-like. The Eelpout's head is goby-like.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia: "The International Eelpout Festival that takes place in February in Walker, Minnesota, celebrates the burbot, which is actually a cod-like fish misleadingly known locally as the eelpout."

I think what happened is when Europeans (Scandanavians) immigrated to the US, they probably caught Burbot but started referring to them as Eelpout, thinking they were the same kind of fish they'd caught in Europe.

Title: Re: Are Eelpout and Burbot different names for the exact same fish?
Post by: Drifter_016 on Jan 17, 2013, 03:47 PM

Yes

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: Chris Raymond on Feb 13, 2013, 01:13 PM

Good luck explaining this to the folks in MN.  ;-)

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: eplindstrom on Feb 13, 2013, 02:33 PM

There's no scandanavians in Minnesota. (sarcasm ;)

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: slipperybob on Dec 19, 2018, 02:55 AM

Awe shucks...now you ruined it!  ;D  The one above, I caught.  The one below...I've never caught.

I guess when someone wants to be technical about it and tells me that I've never caught an eelpout...you're right.  Maybe that's what that one guy meant when he told me, "There are no eelpouts in that lake!"

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: Gunflint on Dec 19, 2018, 08:35 AM

Walker’s eelpout festival is finally unmasked as a total scam.

Not a single entry has ever caught an eelpout!

The have used a shadowy imposter to collect the prize money. Scam!!!

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: schollmeier on Dec 19, 2018, 09:00 AM

Just an added wrinkle, they have Burbot (lota lota) across the colder waters of Europe and Asia, so the Scandinavian region has burbot and eelpout, just not in the same waters.  But common names forever cause confusion when you talk across regions as the Burbot goes by many names

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: Tuma on Dec 19, 2018, 11:53 AM

Now what is the international Eelpout Festival in Waker MN going to do?

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: Gunflint on Dec 19, 2018, 12:20 PM

Quote from: Tuma on Dec 19, 2018, 11:53 AM

Now what is the international Eelpout Festival in Waker MN going to do?

Apparently, the ONLY way to win now would be to use the "international" title and import and actual Eelpout from Scandinavia.

There are many Scandinavians that participate and they should heartily approve!!

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: IcePirateJace on Dec 19, 2018, 01:43 PM

What about ling?

Title: Re: Eelpout and Burbot are not the same fish
Post by: PikeKing23 on Dec 19, 2018, 01:53 PM

I think in Maine they call bullheads eelpout . ???