At present about 90 species of 7 genera of Liparidae fishes are discovered and described from the Southern Ocean and adjacent waters. Reducing trend in the morphological transformation of the pectoral girdle during evolution of Careproctus and Paraliparis in depths of the Southern Ocean is traced. Bathymetric analysis shows that species of Careproctus are distributed in the Antarctic in much deeper water than Paraliparis. The problem of origin and depth distribution of the southern Liparidae is discussed.