Revised 6 Nov. 2025
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Diretmichthys Kotlyar 1990 Diretmus, type genus of family, “close in sound to the names of other genera, which stresses the unity of the family Diretmidae” (translation); ichthýs (ἰχθύς), fish

Diretmichthys parini (Post & Quéro 1981) in honor of ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932–2012), Russian Academy of Sciences, whose work revealed the existence of unnamed diretmid species

Diretmoides Post & Quero 1981 -oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (εἶδος), form or shape: Diretmus, its closest relative, a name the authors selected “in order to emphasize the homogeneity of the Diretmidae family” (translation)

Diretmoides pauciradiatus (Woods 1973) paucus (L.), few or scanty; radiatus (L.) rayed, presumably referring to fewer dorsal-, anal- and pectoral-fin rays compared with Diretmus argenteus, its presumed congener at the time

Diretmoides veriginae Kotlyar 1987 in honor of Inna Alexandrovna Verigina (b. 1931), curator of marine fishes, Zoological Museum, Moscow University, for helping Kotlyar over the course of many years

Diretmus Johnson 1864 di-, from dýo (δύο), two; -retmus, from eretmón (ἐρετμόν), oar or paddle, presumably referring to bony appendages at root of ventral fins, “resembling in shape the wings of some insects”

Diretmus argenteus Johnson 1864 Latin for silvery, referring to its “silvery-grey colour, with darker grey near the dorsal and anal fins”