Revised 21 Nov 2025
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Phycis Walbaum 1792 a name dating to Aristotle, said to be a nest-building fish, almost certainly a wrasse (Labridae), later applied to a nest-building goby (Gobius niger) by Cuvier and others, and also misapplied by Artedi (1738, made nomenclaturally available in Walbaum’s edition of Artedi’s work), who misread Salviani (1558) and erroneously believed “phycis,” “Tenca marina” (a vernacular in Rome for Aristotle’s “phycis”), and a fish Salviani correctly identified as a hake (now known as Phycis phycis), were all the same species; name may derive from phýkos (φύκος), seaweed, which has no bearing on its application here [strictly not tautonymous with Blennius phycis Linnaeus 1766 since type was designated by the ICZN]

Phycis blennoides (Brünnich 1768) -oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (εἶδος), form or shape: a blenny, described as intermediate in form between Gadus and Blennius (which it resembles), which were thought to be related at the time

Phycis chesteri Goode & Bean 1878 per Goode & Bean (1896), in honor of Capt. Hubbard C. Chester (1836–1886), U.S. Fish Commission, sailing master of the Arctic exploring steamer Polaris and later engaged in deep-sea work, who collected holotype

Phycis phycis (Linnaeus 1766) a name borrowed from Artedi (1738); see genus, above

Urophycis Gill 1863 uro, from ourá (οὐρά), tail, i.e., a Phycis with an emarginate (instead of convex) caudal fin

Urophycis brasiliensis (Kaup 1858) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Brazil (although type locality is off Montevideo, Uruguay)

Urophycis chuss (Walbaum 1792) local name for this species in 18th-century New York (USA), from where it was described; per Jordan & Evermann (1898), “apparently derived from cusk,” a 17th-century word of unknown origin historically applied to two lotids, Brosme brosme and Lota lota

Urophycis cirrata (Goode & Bean 1896) Latin for curly or fringed (authors say “bearded”), allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “minute” barbel; another possibility is that the name refers to its long, filamentous pectoral fins, which extend beyond anal-fin origin

Urophycis earllii (Bean 1880) in honor of ichthyologist and museum curator R. Edward Earll (1853–1896), U.S. Fish Commission and U.S. National Museum, who secured type specimens from a market in Charleston, South Carolina (USA)

Urophycis floridana (Bean & Dresel 1884) -ana (L.), belonging to: Pensacola, northwestern Florida (USA), type locality

Urophycis mystacea Miranda Ribeiro 1903 Latin for mustached, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its blackened snout (“Focinho denegrido”)

Urophycis regia (Walbaum 1792) Latin for royal, apparently alluding to “Kingfish,” its local name in 18th-century New York (USA), from where it was described

Urophycis tenuis (Mitchill 1814) Latin for thin or slender, presumably referring to its body shape (Mitchill called it the “Slender Cod”)