Plectrogenium

Last updated

Plectrogenium
Plectrogenium nanum.jpg
P. nanum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Plectrogeniidae
Genus: Plectrogenium
C. H. Gilbert, 1905
Type species
Plectrogenium nanum
Gilbert, 1905

Plectrogenium, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, the stinger flatheads in the family Plectrogeniidae. This genus is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Contents

Taxonomy

Plectrogenium was originally named as a monotypic genus in 1905 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert when he described what was then considered to be its only species, [1] Plectrogenium nanum, from Hawaii. [2] The genus name, Plectrogenium, is a compound of plectro, which means "spur", and genys, which means "cheek"or "chin", an allusion to the lines of robust spines along the sides of the head. [3]

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are: [1]

Characteristics

Plectrogenium is characterised by having a laterally compressed body with a number of spines and ridges on the head. There are venom glands on the spines in the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins. [4] The dorsal fin typically has 12 spines and 71/2 soft rays, the dorsal fin is split into 2 fins with 2 spines in the anterior part of the second dorsal fin. There are between 22 and 25 rays in the pectoral fins and they have 30-35 vertical rows of ctenoid scales on the body. There are flattened spines on the suborbital ridge which resembles that of the Platycephalidae. The mouth is positioned ventrally. [5] They are small fishes with standard lengths of less than 10 cm (3.9 in) [6]

Distribution and habitat

Plectrogenium is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Madagascar to Hawaii. [7] They are bathydemersal fishes which are found at depths greater than 250 m (820 ft). [4]

References

  1. 1 2 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Plectrogeniidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  2. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Plectrogenium". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (7 December 2021). "Order PERCIFORMES: Suborder PLATYCEPHALOIDEI: Families BEMBRIDAE, PARABEMBRIDAE, PLATYCEPHALIDAE, HOPLICHTHYIDAE and PLECTROGENIIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel, eds. (February 2022). "Family Plectrogeniidae - Stinger flatheads". FishBase. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  5. ↑ William N. Eschmeyer and John E. Randall (1975). "The Scorpaenid Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands Including New Species and New Records (Pisces:Scorpaenidae)". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. Series 4. 40 (11): 265–334.
  6. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Plectrogenium". FishBase . February 2022 version.
  7. ↑ Matsunuma, M.; Uesaka, K.; Yamakawa, T. & Hiromitsu Endo (2022). "Review of the Indo-Pacific scorpaenoid genus Plectrogenium Gilbert 1905 (Plectrogeniidae) with descriptions of eight new species". Ichthyological Research. 69 (3): 299–351. doi:10.1007/s10228-021-00844-z.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.