Family CHLOROPHTHALMIDAE Garman 1899 (Greeneyes)

Updated 31 March 2025
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Chlorophthalmus Bonaparte 1840 chlōrós (Gr. χλωρός), green; ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to green eyes of C. agassizi

Chlorophthalmus acutifrons Hiyama 1940 acutus (L.), sharp or pointed; frons (L.), face, brow or forehead, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to more pointed head compared with the similar C. albatrossis

Chlorophthalmus agassizi Bonaparte 1840 in honor of Swiss-born American zoologist-geologist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), “whose antediluvian research will yield his a more lasting name for centuries” (translation)

Chlorophthalmus albatrossis Jordan & Starks 1904is, Latin genitive singular of: U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross, which dredged holotype off the coast of Japan

Chlorophthalmus atlanticus Poll 1953icus (L.), belonging to: tropical Atlantic Ocean, where it occurs

Chlorophthalmus borealis Kuronuma & Yamaguchi 1941 Latin for northern, referring to its northernly distribution compared with two congeners in Japanese waters, C. albatrossis and C. acutifrons

Chlorophthalmus brasiliensis Mead 1958ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: off northern Brazil, type locality

Chlorophthalmus chalybeius (Goode 1881) Latin for iron-colored, from chalubḗïos (Gr. χαλυβήϊος), made of iron, described as “grayish mottled with brown, scales metallic silvery”

Chlorophthalmus corniger Alcock 1894 cornis (L.), horn; -iger (L.), to have or bear, referring to “pair of strong flat spines on either side of the salient mandibular symphysis”

Chlorophthalmus ichthyandri Kotlyar & Parin 1986 in honor of the fishery research vessel Ichthyandr (also spelled Ikhtiandr), which collected the first specimens

Chlorophthalmus imperator Fujiwara, Wada & Motomura 2019 Latin for emperor, referring to Emperor Seamount Chain, central North Pacific, type locality

Chlorophthalmus mascarensis Kobyliansky 2013ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: submarine rises of the Mascarene Ridge, Western Indian Ocean, type locality

Chlorophthalmus mento Garman 1899 from mentum (L.), chin, referring to how produced chin forms an angle at its extremity

Chlorophthalmus nigromarginatus Kamohara 1953 nigro-, from niger (L.), dark or black; marginatus (L.), edged or bordered, referring to dorsal and caudal fins edged with black

Chlorophthalmus pectoralis Okamura & Doi 1984 Latin for pectoral, referring its long pectoral fins, nearly equal to length of head

Chlorophthalmus productus Günther 1887 Latin for lengthened or prolonged, referring to longer snout compared with C. agassizi

Chlorophthalmus proridens Gilbert & Cramer 1897 próra (Gr. πρώρα), prow,; dens (L.), tooth, presumably referring to anterior series of symphyseal teeth, “directed horizontally forward”

Chlorophthalmus punctatus Gilchrist 1904 Latin for spotted, referring to minute black spots that cover head, body and fins, and cause the scale rows “to stand out very markedly”

Chlorophthalmus vityazi Kobyliansky 2013 in honor of the research vessel Vityaz (also spelled Vitiaz), which collected holotype

Chlorophthalmus vulcanus Fricke & Durville 2020anus (L.), belonging to: Vulcan, Roman God of Fire (including the fire of volcanoes), referring to type locality on slope of La Réunion volcano

Chlorophthalmus zvezdae Kotlyar & Parin 1986 named for the fishing trawler Zvezda (meaning “star”), which collected holotype

Parasudis Regan 1911 pará (Gr. παρά), beside or near, presumably referring to close relationship to and/or similarity with Sudis (Sudidae), which were placed in the same family at the time

Parasudis fraserbrunneri (Poll 1953) in honor of British ichthyologist Alec Fraser-Brunner (1906–1986), British Museum (Natural History), who compared this species with P. truculenta and determined they are distinct

Parasudis truculenta (Goode & Bean 1896) Latin for harsh, cruel or brutish, defined as “Savage-looking” by the authors, presumably referring to their opinion of the fish’s appearance