Careproctus is a genus of snailfishes found in benthic and benthopelagic habitats in the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Southern Oceans.

Whether they truly are absent from the Indian Ocean (except for a couple of species in Subantarctic waters) is unknown and might be an artifact of limited sampling.

[1] Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek κάρα (kara, "face, head") and πρωκτός (prōktos, "anus"), therefore literally meaning "butt-face".

[5] Like other snailfish, they lack scales and have a loose gelatinous skin; a few species are covered in prickly spines.

[1] In contrast, a C. reinhardti (species complex[2]) in an aquarium deposited its eggs on the glass, but whether this resembles its wild behavior is unknown.