COMMENTS
v. 2.0 – 5 April 2024 view/download PDF
Family CALLANTHIIDAE Splendid Perches or Groppos
2 genera · 18 species
Callanthias Lowe 1839 callos, beautiful, referring to C. paradisaeus (=ruber), “a most elegant little fish; … almost as rare as beautiful”; Anthias, similar to this serranid genus in dentition, and to A. sacer (=anthias) in shape and color
Callanthias allporti Günther 1876 in honor of Morton Allport (1830-1878), English-born Australian colonial lawyer and naturalist in Tasmania, who presented two specimens to the British Museum
Callanthias australis Ogilby 1899 southern, proposed as an Australian subspecies of C. platei
Callanthias japonicus Franz 1910 Japanese, described from Sagami Sea, Japan (also occurs off Taiwan)
Callanthias legras Smith 1948 in honor of Mr. M. G. le Gras, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, “who has collected many valuable fishes” (but apparently not this one) [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Callanthias parini Anderson & Johnson 1984 in honor of ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932-2012), Russian Academy of Sciences, who provided type specimens
Callanthias platei Steindachner 1898 in honor of German zoologist and geneticist Ludwig Hermann Plate (1862-1937), who led expedition that collected type
Callanthias ruber (Rafinesque 1810) red, described as having a “spotless red body” (translation), referring to one of its predominant (but not exclusive) colors
Grammatonotus Gilbert 1905 grammatos, line; notus, back, referring to lateral line of G. laysanus running along base of dorsal fin
Grammatonotus ambiortus Prokofiev 2006 ambi-, both; ortus, rise, grow or appear; according to Prokofiev, it means “standing simultaneously at two sites” (translation), referring to how it reflects the characters of both Grammatonotus and Callanthias
Grammatonotus bianchi Lisher, Thein & Psomadakis 2021 in honor of Gabriella Bianchi, for her “remarkable contribution to advancing knowledge on the marine resources and ecosystems of developing countries throughout a long and productive career at FAO in the role of Senior Fisheries Officer and now as Research Coordinator of the EAFNansen Programme. Early in her career, Gabriella was a key person in the FAO FishFinder Programme (formerly SIDP) and contributed significantly to our knowledge of the world’s marine biodiversity through the production of reference publications, including the FAO Species Identification Sheets for the Western Indian Ocean and for the Eastern Central Atlantic, as well as several FAO field species identification guides covering the fishery resources of many countries in Africa and Asia”
Grammatonotus brianne Anderson, Greene & Rocha 2016 in honor of the second author’s wife, Brianne M. Atwood (a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”)
Grammatonotus crosnieri (Fourmanoir 1981) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of carcinologist Alain Crosnier (1930-2021), who initiated the deepwater trawl survey during which holotype was collected
Grammatonotus lanceolatus (Kotthaus 1976) lanceolate, referring to lancet-shaped caudal fin
Grammatonotus laysanus Gilbert 1905 –anus, belonging to: near Laysan Island, Leeward Islands, Hawaiian Islands, type locality (but widely occurs in the Pacific from New Guinea and New Caledonia to Vanuatu and Gilbert Islands, and Hawaiian, Nazca Ridge and Sala-y-Gomez Ridges)
Grammatonotus macrophthalmus Katayama, Yamamoto & Yamakawa 1982 macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, referring to larger eyes compared to G. layanus and G. surugaensis
Grammatonotus pelipel Anderson & Johnson 2017 Pohnpeian word for “tattoo” or “to tattoo,” referring to how barring on side of the young resembles many Pohnpeian tattoos (Pohnpeian is a Micronesian language spoken on the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands, type locality)
Grammatonotus roseus (Günther 1880) rosy or pink, described as “Uniform rose colored”
Grammatonotus surugaensis Katayama, Yamakawa & Suzuki 1980 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Suruga Bay, Japan, type locality (also known from Chesterfield Islands, New Caledonia)
Grammatonotus xanthostigma Anderson & Johnson 2017 xanthos, yellow; stigma, spot, referring to yellow spot at upper base of pectoral fin
Family DINOPERCIDAE Cavebasses
Centrarchops Fowler 1923 ops, appearance, referring to its supposed resemblance to Centrarchus macropterus (Centrarchiformes: Centrarchidae) of North America
Centrarchops atlanticus (Reichenow 1877) Atlantic, referring to its distribution in the eastern Atlantic
Dinoperca Boulenger 1895 etymology not explained, perhaps dino-, fearfully great (as in dinosaur), possibly referring to “feebly enlarged, conical and somewhat obtuse teeth” on outer row of jaws; perca, perch, then classified in the catch-all order Perciformes
Dinoperca petersi (Day 1875) in honor of herpetologist-explorer Wilhelm Peters (1815-1883), Director of the Berlin Museum, “who not only most freely gave me access to the valuable contents of the magnificent collection of fishes under his charge, but has also aided me in my difficulties and assisted me with regard to Bloch’s type specimens”
Family EMMELICHTHYIDAE Rovers
3 genera · 18 species
Emmelichthys Richardson 1845 emmeles, which Richardson translated as “concinnus,” i.e., skillfully put together, referring to “peculiarly neat aspect” of E. nitidus; ichthys, fish
Emmelichthys cyanescens (Guichenot 1848) bluish, referring to bluish-brown body
Emmelichthys elongatus Kotlyar 1982 elongate, referring to its more elongate body compared to congeners
Emmelichthys karnellai Heemstra & Randall 1977 in honor of Charles Karnella, National Marine Fisheries Service, who was the first to realize (in 1971) that Bermuda specimens of E. ruber represented an undescribed species and “generously” made available specimens for study
Emmelichthys nitidus Richardson 1845 neat, referring to its “peculiarly neat aspect”
Emmelichthys papillatus Girard, Santos & Bemis 2024 Latin for papillose, referring to two prominent fleshy papillae on cleithrum, a diagnostic character
Emmelichthys ruber (Trunov 1976) red, referring to overall red body color with a ruby hue
Emmelichthys struhsakeri Heemstra & Randall 1977 in honor of Paul Struhsaker (1935-2018), National Marine Fisheries Service, Chief Scientist during the cruises of the research vessel Townsend Cromwell, when most of the type specimens were collected
Erythrocles Jordan 1919 erythros, red, replacement name for Erythrichthys Temminck & Schlegel 1845, preoccupied by Erythrichthys (=Erythrinus) Bonaparte 1831 in fishes, originally referring to “beautiful red color” (translation) of what would later be named E. schlegeli; –ocles, perhaps from kleos, termination of many Greek proper nouns signifying glory, renown or fame (i.e., Sophocles)
Erythrocles acarina Kotthaus 1974 a-, without; carina, keel, referring to absence of keel on caudal peduncle (keel probably present on larger specimens per Heemstra & Randall 1977)
Erythrocles microceps Miyahara & Okamura 1998 micro-, small; ceps, head, referring to smaller head compared to E. acarina
Erythrocles monodi Poll & Cadenat 1954 in honor of naturalist and explorer Théodore Monod (1902-2000), “distinguished and learned” (translation) founder and director of Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (now Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire)
Erythrocles schlegelii (Richardson 1846) in honor of ornithologist and herpetologist Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884), who, with Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), proposed a generic (Erythrichthys, replaced by Erythrocles) but not a specific name for this species in their Fauna Japonica (1845)
Erythrocles scintillans (Jordan & Thompson 1912) shining or bright, allusion not explained, presumably referring to pinkish-olive body color in life, with orange-red head, red jaws, and fins tinted with orange, light crimson or red
Erythrocles taeniatus Randall & Rivaton 1992 striped, referring to conspicuous, red, midlateral stripe on body, a feature not readily apparent on any other member of the family
Plagiogeneion Forbes 1890 plagios, perpendicular; geneion, jawed, referring to vertical mouth of P. rubiginosum
Plagiogeneion fiolenti Parin 1991 in honor of the research vessel Fiolent, from which type was collected
Plagiogeneion geminatum Parin 1991 paired, doubled or repeated, referring to similarity to its geminate congener, P. rubiginosum
Plagiogeneion macrolepis McCulloch 1914 macro-, large; lepis, scale, referring to “much larger and more numerous” scales compared to P. rubiginosum
Plagiogeneion rubiginosum (Hutton 1875) rusty, referring to reddish color in life
Plagiogeneion unispina Parin 1991 uni-, one; spina, spine, referring to single sharp spine on opercle
Family MALACANTHIDAE Tilefishes
5 genera · 46 species
Subfamily MALACANTHINAE Sand Tilefishes
Hoplolatilus Günther 1887 hoplo-, armed, provisionally proposed as a new genus closely related to Latilus (=Branchiostegus) with a “strongly armed” preoperculum
Hoplolatilus andamanensis Allen & Erdmann 2019 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Andaman Islands, type locality (and only known area of occurrence)
Hoplolatilus chlupatyi Klausewitz, McCosker, Randall & Zetzsche 1978 in honor of German marine aquarist Peter Chlupaty, who “kindly entrusted” (translation) the authors with the first imported specimens of the genus, from his personal collection, for scientific study
Hoplolatilus cuniculus Randall & Dooley 1974 burrow, referring to how it rapidly retreated into a burrow, head first, at the approach of a diver
Hoplolatilus erdmanni Allen 2007 in honor of marine biologist Mark V. Erdmann (b. 1968), who was the first to observe this species and collected type; he also “generously assisted” with Allen’s ichthyological investigations of the Bird’s Head Peninsula of western New Guinea
Hoplolatilus fourmanoiri Smith 1964 in honor of French ichthyologist Pierre Fourmanoir (1924-2007), who sent type to Smith for “determination”
Hoplolatilus fronticinctus (Günther 1887) frontis, front; cinctus, girdle, referring to dark violet band running from eye to eye across front of snout
Hoplolatilus geo Fricke & Kacher 1982 named for the Research Submersible GEO, from which this species was observed in the Red Sea at 116 m (described from the submersible; no specimens collected)
Hoplolatilus marcosi Burgess 1978 in honor of Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989), President of the Philippines (type locality); named at the request of marine-fish exporters Earl and Gloria Kennedy, who discovered the species and sent specimens to Burgess
Hoplolatilus oreni (Clark & Ben-Tuvia 1973) in honor of Oton H. Oren (1921-1983), chemist and oceanographer, Haifa Sea Fishery Research Station (Israel), who “helped in the collection of many Red Sea fishes” (but not this one)
Hoplolatilus pohle Earle & Pyle 1997 in honor of John Pohle (1935-2016), U.S. Air Force officer and scuba diver, who discovered the mounds on the reef slope where type specimens were collected [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Hoplolatilus purpureus Burgess 1978 reddish, violet or purple, referring to its “basic” color
Hoplolatilus randalli Allen, Erdmann & Hamilton 2010 in honor of ichthyologist John E. Randall (1924-2020), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), for his “numerous valuable contributions to our knowledge of Indo-Pacific fishes and particularly his previous work on the genus Hoplolatilus”
Hoplolatilus starcki Randall & Dooley 1974 in honor of marine biologist Walter A. Starck II, whose “collecting efforts, photos, and observations added much to our knowledge” of Hoplolatilus
Malacanthus Cuvier 1829 malakos, soft; acanthus, thorn or spine, presumably referring to “thin and flexible” spines on anterior dorsal-fin rays of M. plumieri
Malacanthus brevirostris Guichenot 1848 brevis, short; rostris, snout, referring to “extreme brevity” of snout compared to M. plumieri and M. taeniatus (=latovittatus)
Malacanthus latovittatus (Lacepède 1801) latus, wide; vittatus, striped, referring to “wide and straight” (translation) longitudinal stripe from base of pectoral fins to the caudal
Malacanthus plumieri (Bloch 1786) in honor of Charles Plumier (1646-1704), Franciscan monk and naturalist, on whose drawing and manuscript Bloch’s description is based
Subfamily LATILINAE Tilefishes
Branchiostegus Rafinesque 1815 branchios, gill, stegos, cover, proposed without a description but placed in a subfamily of Lophionota (unavailable family-level name, roughly equivalent to Coryphaenidae, in which Rafinesque placed dolphinfishes, sailfishes and many other marine fishes) distinguished by the presence of branchiostegal membranes
Branchiostegus albus Dooley 1978 white, referring to whitish or silvery body (with some overlying pink) and white belly
Branchiostegus argentatus (Cuvier 1830) silvery, described as “uniform slightly silvery, tending to greenish yellow” (translation)
Branchiostegus auratus (Kishinouye 1907) golden, presumably referring to reddish-silver body
Branchiostegus australiensis Dooley & Kailola 1988 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Australia, where type locality (Shark Bay, Western Australia) is situated (also occurs off Sumatra, Indonesia)
Branchiostegus biendong Hiramatsu, Vinh & Endo 2019 named after the research vessel Biển Dộng, belonging to the Research Institute of Marine Products, Ministry of Fishery (currently Research Institute for Marine Fisheries, Hai Phong, Viêt Nam), used for the study of fish resources in the South China Sea; also Vietnamese name for South China Sea, type locality
Branchiostegus doliatus (Cuvier 1830) barred, referring to 16-18 violaceous vertical bars on body
Branchiostegus gloerfelti Dooley & Kailola 1988 in honor of fisheries consultant Thomas Gloerfelt-Tarp (b. 1949), previously of the JETINDOFISH Project (Bali, Indonesia), for his contribution to the knowledge of Indonesian fishes (he supplied photographs, information and specimens)
Branchiostegus hedlandensis Dooley & Kailola 1988 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Port Hedland, Western Australia, type locality
Branchiostegus ilocanus Herre 1928 –anus, belonging to: described from a market at Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Province, Luzon Island, Philippines
Branchiostegus japonicus (Houttuyn 1782) Japanese, described from Nanao, Japan (also occurs off Taiwan, South Korea and Viêt Nam)
Branchiostegus okinawaensis Hiramatsu & Yoshino 2012 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Okinawa Island, Japan, type locality (also occurs at the Ryukyu Islands)
Branchiostegus paxtoni Dooley & Kailola 1988 in honor of ichthyologist John R. Paxton (b. 1938), Australian Museum (Sydney), “whose efforts have resulted in the recognition of several new species of Australian tilefishes”
Branchiostegus saitoi Dooley & Iwatsuki 2012 in honor of Jiro Saito of Japan, an amateur angler who caught, photographed and ate the first specimens in 2009, and caught two more in 2011 after his photograph was seen by the junior author; without his “considerable efforts and interest, this species would have remained unknown”
Branchiostegus sawakinensis Amirthalingam 1969 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Sawakin (also spelled Suakin), Sudan, Red Sea, type locality (also occurs in Indo-West Pacific from East and South Africa east to Philippines, south to western and northern Australia)
Branchiostegus semifasciatus (Norman 1931) semi-, half; fasciatus, banded, referring to “numerous indistinct narrow, dusky, vertical bars on upper part of body”
Branchiostegus serratus Dooley & Paxton 1975 toothed like a saw, referring to serrate pattern of black bars on body
Branchiostegus vittatus Herre 1926 banded, referring to any or all of the following: pearl-colored band across snout; wide pearl band from lower front margin of eye rapidly narrowing down to upper lip; silver band crossing cheek nearly vertical to throat; basal pearly band along entire length of dorsal fin; about six yellow bands on upper two-thirds of caudal fin, running back and a little diagonally upward, the lowest one separated from the rest
Branchiostegus wardi Whitley 1932 in honor of Alec Ward, a friend who collected type and “many rare and interesting fishes” on board the trawlers he worked from fairly deep water over the continental shelf
Caulolatilus Gill 1862 caulis, stem; Latilus (=Branchiostegus), related genus, allusion not explained, possibly referring to having more dorsal-fin rays (22-27) compared to Latilus (14-16)
Caulolatilus affinis Gill 1865 related, described as “very closely related” to C. chrysops
Caulolatilus bermudensis Dooley 1981 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bermuda, where it is endemic
Caulolatilus chrysops (Valenciennes 1833) chrysos, gold; ops, eye, referring to “shiny golden yellow” (translation) streak from suborbital to nostril (appearing as a light area in alcohol)
Caulolatilus cyanops Poey 1866 cyano-, blue; ops, eye, referring to metallic greenish-blue streak from suborbital to upper lip (appearing as clear-blue in alcohol)
Caulolatilus dooleyi Berry 1978 in honor of James K. Dooley, Adelphi University (Garden City, New York, USA), who “researched and illuminated the taxonomic relationships” of malacanthid fishes
Caulolatilus guppyi Beebe & Tee-Van 1937 in honor of naturalist Plantagenet Lechmere Guppy (1871-1934, son of the civil engineer who discovered the Guppy, Poecilia reticulata), who “first collected and recognized this fish as new to the fauna of Trinidad, and who has done much for the natural history of that island and of Tobago [note: although multiple sources state that Guppy died in 1934, Beebe & Tee-Van state that they visited Guppy in December 1936, during which he provided type specimen and “many other courtesies”]
Caulolatilus intermedius Howell Rivero 1936 intermediate in form between C. cyanops, C. microps and C. chrysops
Caulolatilus microps Goode & Bean 1878 micro-, small; ops, eye, referring to smaller eye compared to C. cyanops and C. chrysops
Caulolatilus princeps (Jenyns 1840) first or foremost, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to larger size compared to Latilus (now Prolatilus) jugularis (Uranoscopiformes: Pinguipedidae), its presumed congener at the time
Caulolatilus williamsi Dooley & Berry 1977 in honor of Frank Joseph Williams of Miami, Florida (USA), owner and captain of the commercial fishing vessel Argo, who caught type and saved it for the authors, and who has “contributed many valuable deepwater fish specimens to [them] over the years”
Lopholatilus Goode & Bean 1879 lophus, crest, referring to large adipose appendage on nape, resembling adipose fin of a salmonid; Latilus (=Branchiostegus), its presumed closest relative (New England fishermen shortened the name to “tilus,” hence the common name Tilefish)
Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps Goode & Bean 1879 chameleon, Old World lizards of the family Chamaeleonidae; ceps, head, presumably referring to how its nuchal crest resembles the head crests of some chameleons
Lopholatilus villarii Miranda Ribeiro 1915 in honor of Capt. Frederico Otávio de Lemos Villar (1875-1964), Brazilian naval officer involved in fisheries research along coast of Brazil
Family MONODACTYLIDAE Moonfishes
2 genera · 6 species
Monodactylus Lacepède 1801 monos, one; daktylos, finger, referring to ventral fin of M. falciformis consisting of one small spiny ray, barely visible (present in juveniles, rudimentary or absent in adults)
Monodactylus argenteus (Linnaeus 1758) silvery, referring to color of adults (juveniles dusky silver)
Monodactylus falciformis Lacepède 1801 falx, scythe or sickle; forma, form, referring to sickle-shaped dorsal and anal fins
Monodactylus kottelati Pethiyagoda 1991 in honor of Swiss ichthyologist Maurice Kottelat (b. 1957), for interest in and work on the systematics of the freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka, where this species occurs in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats (also known from eastern India)
Monodactylus sebae (Cuvier 1829) in honor of Albertus Seba (1665-1736), Dutch pharmacist, zoologist and natural history collector, who described this species in 1759 but used a non-binominal name [although named after a man, some classically trained zoologists latinized the names of individuals whose names ended with the letter “a” by adding an “e” to the spelling]
Schuettea Steindachner 1866 –ea, adjectival suffix: named for Dr. Schütte (forename not available), who provided Steindachner with fishes from Port Jackson, New South Wales, Australia, presumably including type of S. scalaripinnis
Schuettea scalaripinnis Steindachner 1866 scalaris, of a ladder; pinnis, fin, referring to how dorsal- and anal-fin rays increase in height anteriorly, like the ascending steps of a ladder
Schuettea woodwardi (Waite 1905) in honor of Bernard H. Woodward (1846-1916), Director, Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery, who forwarded type to the Australian Museum
Family MORONIDAE Temperate Basses
2 genera · 6 species
Dicentrarchus Gill 1860 di-, two; kentron, thorn or spine; archos, anus, referring to two anal-fin spines of Perca elongata (=D. labrax); actually, both species of genus have three, not two, anal-fin spines (Gill admitted that he never examined a specimen)
Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus 1758) ancient Greek equivalent of the modern Greek lavraki, both meaning “seabass”
Dicentrarchus punctatus (Bloch 1792) spotted, referring to small dark spots scattered over back and sides
Morone Mitchill 1814 etymology not explained nor evident, making it perhaps the most enigmatic name for such a well-known group of fishes; our best guess is that it is from morone, an archaic version of maroon, possibly referring to the red, ruddy, or rusty colors Mitchill described on all four taxa he included in the genus (less than a year later, Mitchill discarded Morone for the labrid name Bodianus and never mentioned Morone again)
Morone americana (Gmelin 1789) American, then believed to be an American representative of the largely European genus Perca (Perciformes: Percidae)
Morone chrysops (Rafinesque 1820) chrysos, gold; ops, eye, referring to gold or yellow cast of iris
Morone mississippiensis Jordan & Eigenmann 1887 –ensis, suffix denoting place: referring to its occurrence in the Mississippi River basin (USA), north to Cincinnati, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri (now widely stocked elsewhere)
Morone saxatilis (Walbaum 1792) living among rocks, presumably derived from its common name in New York (USA), Rockfish, as reported in Schöpf (1788), possibly referring to its often being caught near coastal rocky ledges
Family SILLAGINIDAE Sillagos (Whitings and Smelt Whitings)
6 genera/subgenera · 39 species
Sillaginodes Gill 1861 –oides, having the form of: similar to typical “Sillagines” but distinct in the small size of the scales, and unqueal (in size and number of rays) of second dorsal and anal fins
Sillaginodes punctatus (Cuvier 1829) spotted, referring to numerous black dots above lateral line (actually, small rusty-brown spots and wavy lines above and below lateral line)
Sillaginopodys Fowler 1933 proposed as a subgenus of Sillago distinguished by its podos, foot, referring to modified (cartilaginous) ventral fins of S. chondropus
Sillaginopodys chondropus (Bleeker 1849) chondros, cartilage; opus, foot, referring to ventral-fin spine expanded as a thick cartilaginous pad joined with first ventral ray
Sillaginops Kaga 2013 Sillago, type genus of family; ops, eye, referring to large eye, diameter 25–32% HL (vs. 14-29% HL in Sillago and 3-11% HL in Sillaginopsis)
Sillaginops macrolepis (Bleeker 1858) macro-, large; lepis, scale, referring to its large scales, 51-56 along lateral line (54-147 in other sillanginids)
Sillaginopsis Gill 1861 opsis, appearance, similar to both Sillago and Sillaginodes but distinguished by depressed head, small eyes, larger outer row of teeth, and form of first dorsal fin
Sillaginopsis domina (Cuvier 1816) madame or mistress, from pèche-madame, local name for this species among the French of Pondicherry, India, type locality, allusion not explained nor evident [often but incorrectly identified as S. panijus (Hamilton 1822)]
Sillago Cuvier 1816 etymology not explained nor evident, perhaps derived from sillot, satire (and hence sharp), and the Greek ago, meaning “I bear,” referring to its somewhat elongated and pointed head (“A tete un peu alonge en pointe,” per Cuvier 1829); three other possibilities have been proposed, all problematical: (1) a locality in Australia, possibly Sillago Reef off the coast of Queensland (doubtful since Cuvier described S. acuta [=sihama] from the Indian Ocean, (2) from the Greek syllego, meaning “to meet” (there is nothing in Cuvier’s text, nor in his more-detailed 1829 account, to support this explanation, (3) sillot (i.e., sharp) referring to its fins, but Cuvier did not mention sharp or thorny fins in his brief 1816 description
Subgenus Sillago
Sillago caudicula Kaga, Imamura & Nakaya 2010 tailed, referring to specialized caudal skeleton, with third and fourth hypurals completely fused (compared to completely separated in S. intermedia)
Sillago indica McKay, Dutt & Sujatha 1985 Indian, referring to occurrence on east and west coasts of India (also occurs off Viêt Nam)
Sillago intermedia Wongratana 1977 intermediate, allusion not explained, described as similar in color to S. maculata but “more closely allied” to S. sihama, S. parvisquamis and S. megacephalus according to structure of swim bladder
Sillago malabarica (Bloch & Schneider 1801) –ica, belonging to: Malabar (i.e., southern India), referring to type locality in Tranquebar (now Tharangambadi), Tamil Nadu State
Sillago megacephalus Lin 1933 mega-, large; cephalus, head, referring to larger head (33% of SL) compared to the very similar S. sihima
Sillago nigrofasciata Xiao, Yu, Song & Gao 2021 nigro-, black; fasciata, banded, referring to wide, mid-lateral black longitudinal band, a diagnostic character
Sillago panhwari Panhwar, Farooq, Qamar, Shaikh & Mairaj 2017 in honor of Sher Khan Panhwar (Center of Excellence in Marine Biology, University of Karachi), “who pioneered work on Pakistani sillaginid fishes” and senior author of paper in which name was proposed; it is unclear whether named the fish after himself (a breach of nomenclatural etiquette) or if one of his four co-authors suggested the honor [subgeneric placement provisional]
Sillago parasihama Gao, Xiao & Guo 2022 para-, near, referring to its close resemblance to S. sihama in external morphology
Sillago parvisquamis Gill 1861 parvus, small; squamis, scale, referring to smaller scales compared to the “nearly allied” S. japonica
Sillago shaoi Gao & Xiao 2016 in honor of ichthyologist Kwang-Tsao Shao (b. 1951), National Taiwan Ocean University, for his “remarkable contribution” to the classification of fishes
Sillago sihama (Fabricius 1775) from Si-hâmi and Sjhâmi, Arabic names for this fish along the Red Sea of Yemen
Sillago sinica Gao & Xue 2011 named for Sinica (China), referring to all sampling sites in coastal waters of China: East China Sea, Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea
Sillago suezensis Golani, Fricke & Tikochinski 2013 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Suez (As Suwais, Egypt), type locality, and restricted original distribution area in the Gulf of Suez, northern Red Sea (also occurs in Mediterranean Sea as a Lessepsian immigrant)
Subgenus Parasillago McKay 1985 para-, near, differs from subgenus Sillago in having posterior extension of swim bladder a single tapering projection (or in one species a rounded posterior margin), instead of two posterior extensions
Sillago aeolus Jordan & Evermann 1902 etymology not explained, perhaps referring to Aeolus, god of the winds, or aiolos, quick-moving, shifting, changing, or variable; in either case, allusion not evident
Sillago analis Whitley 1943 etymology not explained, presumably referring to anal fin, said to have fewer rays compared to the similar Sillaginops macrolepis, its presumed congener at the time
Sillago arabica McKay & McCarthy 1989 Arabian, referring to Arabian (=Persian) Gulf, where it is endemic
Sillago argentifasciata Martin & Montalban 1935 argenteus, silvery; fasciata, banded, referring to “wide, brilliant, silvery” longitudinal band on sides
Sillago asiatica McKay 1982 Asian, referring to its occurrence in the Gulf of Thailand and Taiwan [possibly a junior synonym of S. soringa]
Sillago attenuata McKay 1985 thin or tapered, referring to slender body
Sillago bassensis Cuvier 1829 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia, type locality (occurs in southeastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific from Australia to China)
Sillago boutani Pellegrin 1905 in honor of Louis Boutan (1859-1934), zoologist and underwater photography pioneer, who led scientific mission to Viêt Nam (studying the culture of pearl oysters) during which type was collected
Sillago burrus Richardson 1842 red or flame-colored, described as having a “crimson” back “down to the lateral line, the parts beneath primrose-yellow”
Sillago ciliata Cuvier 1829 ciliate, referring to fine, almost cilia-like, serrations on entire edge of preoperculum
Sillago flindersi McKay 1985 in honor of Lieut. Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), British Navy, explorer and navigator, who circumnavigated Australia (where this species is endemic) [proposed as a subspecies of S. bassensis from the Bass Strait, which was named for Flinders’ friend and ship physician, George Bass]
Sillago ingenuua McKay 1985 free-born, referring to Gulf of Thailand, type locality (according to some scholars, Thai means “free man” in the Thai language, differentiating from those who are considered serfs)
Sillago japonica Temminck & Schlegel 1843 Japanese, described from the seas of Japan (occurs in western Pacific from northern Viêt Nam and southern China to Japan)
Sillago lutea McKay 1985 lutea, “belonging to mud” (correctly lutosa or lutaria; lutea means yellow), referring to its abundance on muddy or silty substrates
Sillago maculata Quoy & Gaimard 1824 spotted, referring to 7-8 blackish, irregular and oblique spots on body and one at base of pectoral fin
Sillago microps McKay 1985 micro-, small; ops, eye, referring to small eye, 14-16% of head length
Sillago nierstraszi Hardenberg 1941 in honor of the late Hugo Frederik Nierstrasz (1872-1937), marine biologist, Utrecht University, and member of the Siboga Expedition (1899-1900) to the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
Sillago robusta Stead 1908 stout or muscular, referring to “generally stouter form” compared to other Australian sillaginids
Sillago schomburgkii Peters 1864 in honor of botanist Richard Schomburgk (1811-1891), curator, Adelaide Botanic Garden (South Australia), who collected type [not to be confused with his brother, explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865), for whom many other fishes are named]
Sillago soringa Dutt & Sujatha 1982 soringa, Telugu (an Indo-Aryan language) name, applied by local fishermen, in Visakhapatnam, India, type locality
Sillago vincenti McKay 1980 in honor of S. G. Vincent, Technical Officer, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, India, for “valuable assistance in collecting specimens [including type], obtaining information for [McKay’s] study recognising the two species in the field and assisting with the measurements”
Sillago vittata McKay 1985 banded, referring to 8-11 light-brown to rusty-brown very narrow bars extending from back obliquely forwards, touching or almost touching a conspicuous silvery mid-lateral longitudinal band
Family PRIACANTHIDAE Bigeyes
4 genera · 21 species
Cookeolus Fowler 1928 –olus, diminutive connoting endearment: in honor of Charles Montague Cooke, Jr. (1874-1948), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), “in slight appreciation of his contributions to Pacific conchology”
Cookeolus japonicus (Cuvier 1829) Japanese, described from Japan (but circumglobal in tropical and subtropical seas)
Heteropriacanthus Fitch & Crooke 1984 heteros, different, referring to its being different “in numerous salient features” from other Priacanthus
Heteropriacanthus carolinus (Cuvier 1829) Carolinian, referring to Caroline Islands, Micronesia, type locality (occurs in Indo-Pacific from South Africa and East Africa, Madagascar and Mascarenes east to Hawaiian Islands, and in eastern Pacific from southern California south to Panama and the Galapagos Islands)
Heteropriacanthus cruentatus (Lacepède 1801) blood-red, referring to overall reddish or crimson color in life
Heteropriacanthus fulgens (Lowe 1838) bright, shining or glittering, allusion not explained, possibly referring to bright-red patches and/or silver-white reticulate pattern on body in life
Priacanthus Oken 1817 prion, saw; acanthus, thorn or spine, referring to serrate preopercular spine of P. macrophthalmus (=hamrur)
Priacanthus alalaua Jordan & Evermann 1903 local name for priacanthids at the Hawaiian Islands (type locality); also spelled a-la-u-wa
Priacanthus arenatus Cuvier 1829 sanded, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to brown color in alcohol “irregularly scattered with small black dots” (translation)
Priacanthus blochii Bleeker 1853 in honor of physician-naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799), who described this species as Anthias macrophthalmus in 1792 [A. macrophthalmus, now treated as a junior synonym of P. hamrur, is actually a senior synonym of P. blochii, which is retained for nomenclatural stability]
Priacanthus fitchi Starnes 1988 in honor of the late John E. Fitch (1918-1982), marine and fisheries biologist, California Department of Fish and Game, “whom I never had the privilege of meeting, but with whom I exchanged much valuable information on priacanthid systematics prior to his death. His contributions to ichthyology, and especially to our knowledge of otolith morphology, are considerable.”
Priacanthus hamrur (Fabricius 1775) Arabic name for this species along the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia, type locality
Priacanthus macracanthus Cuvier 1829 macro-, long; acanthus, thorn or spine, referring to long and pointed preopercular spine
Priacanthus meeki Jenkins 1903 in honor of ichthyologist Seth Eugene Meek (1859-1914), assistant curator of zoology, Field Columbian Museum (Chicago, USA)
Priacanthus nasca Starnes 1988 named for the Nasca lithospheric plate region of the eastern Pacific, where it appears to be endemic
Priacanthus prolixus Starnes 1988 stretched out or long, referring to its “relatively attenuated” body
Priacanthus sagittarius Starnes 1988 of arrows, referring to its “overall posterior configuration …, resulting from the pointed dorsal and anal fins and blunt caudal fin, which resemble the fletching and butt of an arrow”
Priacanthus tayenus Richardson 1846 presumably a latinization of Ta yan from Ta yen lap (=Large-eyed lap), its Chinese name as reported John Reeves, who painted the species while working as a tea inspector in China (1812-1831)
Priacanthus zaiserae Starnes & Moyer 1988 in honor of Martha J. Zaiser, formerly of Tanaka Memorial Biological Station, Miyake-jima, Japan, for her “valuable” contributions to the knowledge of the marine biogeography of the Izu Islands
Pristigenys Agassiz 1835 pristis, saw; genys, cheek, referring to strongly serrated suborbital of †Pristigenys substriata [a fossil species not covered here]
Pristigenys alta (Gill 1862) high, referring to higher body than the similar P. niphonia
Pristigenys meyeri (Günther 1872) in honor of zoologist-anthropologist Adolf Bernhard Meyer (1840-1911), who sent a collection of fishes from Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia, to the British Museum, including type of this one
Pristigenys niphonia (Cuvier 1829) –ia, adjectival suffix: Niphon (now Nippon, or Japan), described from Nagasaki, Japan (widely occurs in eastern Indian and western Pacific from Indonesia east to Philippines Papua New Guinea, north to Japan, south to northern Australia)
Pristigenys refulgens (Valenciennes 1862) shining or standing out, presumably referring to bright-pink body color
Pristigenys serrula (Gilbert 1891) little saw, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its spines, described as “rough-serrate”
Family CEPOLIDAE Bigeyes
3 genera · 46 species
Subfamily CEPOLINAE
Acanthocepola Bleeker 1874 acanthus, thorn or spine, i.e., a Cepola with a spined preopercular margin
Acanthocepola abbreviata (Valenciennes 1835) shortened, referring to short body compared to known congeners in Cepola at the time
Acanthocepola indica (Day 1888) Indian, described from Madras, India (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from Pakistan east to Philippines, north to Japan)
Acanthocepola krusensternii (Temminck & Schlegel 1845) in honor of Estonian explorer Adam Johann von Krusenstern (1770-1846), who led the first (1803-1806) Russian circumnavigation of the globe; he published an illustration from which A. limbata was described in his 1813 account of his voyage
Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes 1835) edged or bordered, referring to dorsal and anal fins edged with bright pink, and the pectoral and ventral fins edged in yellow
Cepola Linnaeus 1764 a little onion, allusion not explained but probably derived from Cepollam or Cepulam, which, according to Willughby (1686) were local names among Roman fishermen for the morphologically similar Fierasfer (=Carapus, Ophidiiformes: Carapidae), a group of fishes to which Linnaeus believed C. macrophthalma was related (similarly, Canestrini 1872 reports that common name in Naples is Pesce cipolia, “onion fish”); according to the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (vol. 2, 1897 ed.), name refers to resemblance of C. rubescens (=C. macrophthalma) to the leaves of the plant (but offers no source for this information)
Cepola australis Ogilby 1899 southern, the first species of the genus “represented south of the tropics” (New South Wales, Australia) [actually, that would be C. haastii of Wellington, New Zealand, placed in the monotypic Hypolycodes at the time]
Cepola haastii (Hector 1881) in honor of German-born geologist Johann Franz Julius von Haast (1822-1887), first director of the Canterbury Museum (Christchurch, New Zealand), who “entrusted” Hector with the description of this species
Cepola macrophthalma (Linnaeus 1758) macro-, large; ophthalmus, eyed, referring to large eye, its diameter <3 times in HL [often known as C. rubescens]
Cepola pauciradiata Cadenat 1950 pauci-, few; radiata, rayed, referring to fewer dorsal- and anal-fin rays compared to congeners
Cepola schlegelii Bleeker 1854 in honor of ornithologist and herpetologist Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884), who, Bleeker believed, lumped this species in with his co-description of Acanthocepola krusensternii in 1845 [often spelled with one terminal “i”]
Subfamily OWSTONIINAE
Owstonia Tanaka 1908 –ia, belonging to: Alan Owston (1853-1915), businessman, yachtsman, and collector of Asian wildlife, in whose collection a single specimen of O. totomiensis was found
Owstonia ainonaka Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 combination of the first (Ai) and last name (Nonaka) of the junior author’s wife, for her “valuable” assistance with the authors’ revision of the genus
Owstonia aurora Liao, Reyes & Shao 2022 named after the “Aurora 2007” Philippine Expedition, a series of deep-sea expeditions under the Census of Philippine Deep-Sea Biodiversity, during which holotype was collected
Owstonia contodon Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 kontos, short; odon, tooth, referring to peg-like symphyseal dentary teeth
Owstonia crassa Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 thick, fat or stout, referring to general appearance of holotype
Owstonia dispar Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 different, referring to the “discovery of yet another new species of Owstonia”
Owstonia dorypterus (Fowler 1934) dory, spear; pterus, fin, referring to its long and pointed vertical fins
Owstonia elongata Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 prolonged, referring to its elongate body
Owstonia fallax Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 deceitful or false, referring to superficial resemblance to O. hastata
Owstonia geminata Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 twin, referring to its “obviously close” phylogenetic relationship and superficial resemblance to O. fallax
Owstonia grammodon (Fowler 1934) gramme, line or row; odon, tooth, allusion not explained, presumably referring to mostly single rows of teeth in jaws
Owstonia hastata Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 spear-shaped, referring to lanceolate caudal fin
Owstonia hawaiiensis Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Hawai‘i, where it appears to be endemic
Owstonia ignota Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 unknown, referring to the author’s initial uncertainty about how to taxonomically treat this specimen considering the minor characters that distinguish it from O. hawaiiensis; furthermore, with only a single specimen available, sexual dimorphism of pelvic fin can be reasonably hypothesized but still remains unknown
Owstonia japonica Kamohara 1935 Japanese, known only from vicinity of Shikoku Island, Japan
Owstonia kamoharai Endo, Liao & Matsuura 2015 in honor of the late Toshiji Kamohara (1901-1972), Kochi University (Japan), who “greatly” contributed to the taxonomy of the Cepolidae (he described three new species still recognized as valid)
Owstonia lepiota Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 lepis, scale; iota, anything small, referring to relatively small body scales
Owstonia maccullochi Whitley 1934 in honor of the late Allen R. McCulloch (1885-1925), Australian ichthyologist (description appeared in a supplement to the third edition of McCulloch’s Fishes and Fish-like Animals of New South Wales)
Owstonia macrophthalma (Fourmanoir 1985) macro-, large; ophthalma, eyed, referring to large eye, included twice in length of head
Owstonia melanoptera Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 melanos, black; ptera, fin, referring to large black blotch on dorsal fin of adult holotype
Owstonia merensis Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 –ensis, suffix denoting place: “mer,” name used by Torres Strait islanders for Murray Island, Australia, nearest island to type locality
Owstonia mundyi Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 in honor of fisheries biologist Bruce C. Mundy (National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu Laboratory), who arranged for the authors to receive type specimens and called their attention to important video frame grabs in support of his important submersible observations on Owstonia species
Owstonia nalani Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 in honor of Nalani Schell, curator of fishes, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, for her “outstanding” assistance facilitating loans and examining type specimens of Owstonia in Paris [presumably a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]
Owstonia nigromarginata (Fourmanoir 1985) nigro-, black; marginata, edged or bordered, referring to black stripe anteriorly on distal margin of dorsal fin
Owstonia nudibucca Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 nudus, bare or naked; bucca, cheek, referring to scaleless cheeks (nape is scaleless also)
Owstonia psilos Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 bare, smooth or naked, referring to smooth lower margin of preopercle, and to numerous missing scales of holotype due to trawl abrasion
Owstonia raredonae Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 in honor of Sandra J. Raredon (b. 1954), Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., for her “expertise” with digital radiographs and photographs, which contributed “significantly” to the authors’ monograph
Owstonia rhamma Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 Greek for seam or suture, referring to its lateral line, reminiscent of a surgeon’s suture
Owstonia sarmiento Liao, Reyes & Shao 2009 in honor of Malcolm Sarmiento, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Philippines), for his support in making the authors’ exploration of deep-sea fauna in the Philippines possible [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Owstonia scottensis Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 –ensis, suffix denoting place: near Scott Reefs, Western Australia, only known area of occurrence
Owstonia sibogae (Weber 1913) of the ship Siboga and Indonesian expedition (1898-1899) of same name, during which type was collected
Owstonia similis Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016 like or resembling, referring to similarity of holotype to other species with a black blotch anteriorly in the dorsal fin, especially to O. melanoptera
Owstonia simotera (Smith 1968) simus, flat-nosed; teres, rubbed off, i.e., snub-nosed, presumably referring to “large and blunt” head
Owstonia taeniosoma (Kamohara 1935) taenia, band or ribbon; soma, body, referring to its “much elongated” body
Owstonia tosaensis Kamohara 1934 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tosa Province (now known as Kochi Province) Japan, type locality (also occurs off Taiwan, Philippines and Western Australia)
Owstonia totomiensis Tanaka 1908 –ensis, suffix denoting place: coast of Totomi Province, Japan, type locality
Owstonia weberi (Gilchrist 1922) patronym not identified but Gilchrist said species is similar to Sphenanthias (=Owstonia), proposed by ichthyologist Max Weber (1852-1937) in 1913
Owstonia whiteheadi (Talwar 1973) in honor of Peter J. P. Whitehead (1930-1993), “eminent” ichthyologist of the British Museum, who “kindly read through the manuscript critically”