Revised 28 Sept. 2025
PDF version (with illustrations and additional information)

Melamphaes Günther 1864 mélas (μέλας), black; amphaes, presumably a feminine suffix-like word component derived from amphi-, (ἁμφί), on both sides, presumably referring to “entirely black” color of M. typhlops

Melamphaes acanthomus Ebeling 1962 acantho-, from ákantha (ἄκανθα), thorn or spine; omos, from hṓmos (ὦμος), shoulder, referring to its antrorse post-temporal spines

Melamphaes brachysomus Kimura, Kawai & Aungtonya 2019 short-bodied, from brachýs (βραχύς), short, and sṓma (σῶμα), body, referring to its relatively short and stout body

Melamphaes contradictorius Kotlyar 2015 Latin for contradictory, presumably referring to how its characters “contradict” those of closely related species of the M. longivelis complex

Melamphaes danae Ebeling 1962 named for the Danish fishery research vessel Dana, which collected holotype, “in honor of her scientific party and crew, who, by compiling and interpreting vast quantities of facts concerning the biology, physics, and chemistry of the oceans, have contributed much more than their share to the establishment of the science of biological oceanography”

Melamphaes ebelingi Keene 1973 in honor of American ichthyologist Alfred W. Ebeling (1931–2022), University of California (Santa Barbara), for “outstanding” contributions to the knowledge of the family Melamphaidae and to the ecology of deep-sea fishes

Melamphaes eulepis Ebeling 1962 eū́- (εὖ), well or very; lepís (λεπίς), scale, referring to its “intact squamation” (scales usually missing on congeners) and its “palate-like, sculptured” opercular scales

Melamphaes eurous Kotlyar 2016 Latin for eastern, referring to its distribution in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Melamphaes falsidicus Kotlyar 2011 Latin for speaking falsely or lying, referring to previous mistakes made in its identification, which led to its being classified as M. microps

Melamphaes hubbsi Ebeling 1962 in honor of American ichthyologist Carl L. Hubbs (1894–1979), for his broad interests in oceanography and the systematics of pelagic fishes (Hubbs also served as chair of Ebeling’s doctoral committee, suggested this line of research, advised on and corrected the manuscript, and gathered data on type specimens from Europe)

Melamphaes inconspicuus Kotlyar 2015 Latin for not conspicuous or not remarkable, referring to how previous specimens of this species were probably attributed to M. longivelis by mistake

Melamphaes indicus Ebeling 1962 -icus (L.), belonging to: India, referring to its distribution mainly in the Indo-Pacific (Madagascar east to Hawaiian Islands and Central America)

Melamphaes janae Ebeling 1962 in honor of Ebeling’s wife, Jan, who sorted the first specimens of this species from collections made during the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Eastropic Expedition

Melamphaes kobylyanskyi Kotlyar 2015 in honor of friend and colleague Stanislav Genrikhovich Kobylyansky, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, a “famous” (translation) researcher of mesopelagic animals who provided Kotlyar with melamphaid fishes collected on cruise 29 of the Akademik Ioffee research vessel

Melamphaes laeviceps Ebeling 1962 laevis (L.), smooth; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to the “trim contours” of its “smoothly sculptured” head

Melamphaes lentiginosus Kotlyar 2015 Latin for freckled, referring to black dotted spots of pigment on head, body and fins of young and semi-adult specimens

Melamphaes leprus Ebeling 1962 from leprós (λεπρός), scaly or rough, referring to its relatively coarse-ridged spines

Melamphaes longivelis Parr 1933 longus (L.), long; velis, from velum, sail (i.e., dorsal fin), proposed as a subspecies of M. microps with a “slightly higher dorsal fin count”

Melamphaes lugubris Gilbert 1890 Latin for mourning or funereal, presumably referring to uniform brownish-black body with dusky fins

Melamphaes macrocephalus Parr 1931 big-headed, from makrós (μακρός), long or large, and kephalḗ (κεφαλή), head, referring to its “very large” head, 2–2-2/3 times in SL

Melamphaes manifestus Kotlyar 2011 Latin for remarkable, obvious or easily defined, allusion not explained (nor obvious), possibly referring to its bigger head and larger eyes compared with M. microps

Melamphaes microps (Günther 1878) micro-, from mikrós (μικρός), small; ṓps (ὦψ), eye, 1/7 length of head and more than ½ length of snout

Melamphaes nikolayi Kotlyar 2012 in honor of Kotlyar’s father, Nikolay Efimovich Kotlyar (1908–1994)

Melamphaes occlusus Kotlyar 2012 Latin for closed up (i.e., hidden or concealed), referring to how it was possibly included into the composition of another species, M. microps

Melamphaes pachystomus Kotlyar 2011 pachýs (παχύς), thick; stomus, lapsus for somus, from soma (σῶμα), body, referring to its stout body shape

Melamphaes papavereus Kotlyar 2016 -eus (L.), adjectival suffix: Papaver, poppy genus, referring to small dotted pigments on body and fins, which resemble poppy seeds

Melamphaes parini Kotlyar 1999 in honor of the “well-known” (translation) ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932–2012), Russian Academy of Sciences

Melamphaes parvus Ebeling 1962 Latin for small, referring to its relatively small size compared with sympatric congeners

Melamphaes polylepis Ebeling 1962 polý- (πολύ-), many; lepís (λεπίς), scale, referring to relatively large number of horizontal and oblique scale rows

Melamphaes proximus Kotlyar 2015 Latin for nearest or near, referring to its close relation to the Atlantic M. longivelis

Melamphaes pumilus Ebeling 1962 Latin for dwarfish, referring to small size of adults (18.0–22.5 mm SL)

Melamphaes shcherbachevi Kotlyar 2015 in honor of friend and colleague Yuri Nikolayevich Shcherbachev, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, “famous” (translation) researcher of deep-sea fauna

Melamphaes simus Ebeling 1962 Latin for flat- or pug-nosed, referring to the “fancied flat or pug-nosed appearance rendered by the raised antorbital ridge”

Melamphaes spinifer Ebeling 1962 spinus (L.), thorn; –ifer, from fera (L.), to have or bear, referring to enlarged spines on preopercle

Melamphaes suborbitalis (Gill 1883) sub (L.), under; orbitus (L.), orbit, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to end of maxillary reaching to below hind margin of orbit

Melamphaes succedanaes Kotlyar 2015 translated from Latin into Russian as “replacing,” referring to how it replaces in the eastern Pacific Ocean closely related species of the M. longivelis complex from the Indian Ocean and western Pacific [misspelled succedanaus in title of English translation]

Melamphaes typhlops (Lowe 1843) typhlós (τυφλός), blind; ṓps (ὦψ), eye, presumably referring to its minute eyes(“oculu minuti”)

Melamphaes uniformis Kotlyar 2013 Latin for uniform (i.e., simple), referring to its external similarity to other species of the genus and monochrome coloration of the holotype

Melamphaes xestoachidus Kotlyar 2011 etymology not explained but said by Kotlyar to mean “smooth-spined” (translation), referring to absence of a spur on haemal arch of first caudal vertebrae, presumably from xestós (ξεστός), smoothed (i.e., shaven), and achidus, a word that does not occur in Latin or Greek but believed by Kotlyar (pers. comm.) to mean sharp or needle (perhaps a misspelling of acidus, Latin for a different kind of “sharp,” i.e., tart or sour)

Poromitra Goode & Bean 1883 póros (πόρος), hole or passage; mitra (L.), headband, coif or turban; per Goode & Bean (1896), name means with “openings in its shields,” referring to “central depression in each round, concentrically-grooved scale” of P. capito (apparently the cycloid scales, or “shields,” reminded the authors of conical peaked caps)

Poromitra agafonovae Kotlyar 2009 in honor of Tat’yana Borisovna Agafonova (1950–2004), friend and research colleague, for her contribution to the study of open-ocean fishes, particularly the family Nomeidae; in addition, she and Kotlyar collaborated on the monograph Commercial Fishes of Russia (2006)

Poromitra atlantica (Norman 1929) -ica (L.), belonging to: described from the South Atlantic Ocean (also occurs in southeastern Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific)

Poromitra capito Goode & Bean 1883 Latin for one with a large head, referring to its “very large” head, nearly as long as trunk in young specimens

Poromitra coronata (Gilchrist & von Bonde 1924) Latin for crowned, referring to “crenulated crown-like crest” on head and above eye

Poromitra crassa Parin & Ebeling 1980 Latin for thick, fat or stout, referring to its body shape

Poromitra crassiceps (Günther 1878) crassus (L), thick, fat or stout; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, described as “very thick, with short snout”

Poromitra cristiceps (Gilbert 1890) crista (L.), crest; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to well-developed system of mucous canals on head, “their margins raised into high thin crests”

Poromitra curilensis Kotlyar 2008 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: referring to its distribution not far from the Kuril Islands of the Russian Far East [note “k” Latinized as “c”]

Poromitra decipiens Kotlyar 2008 Latin for deceiving, referring to how it is easily confused with the closely related P. crassiceps

Poromitra frontosa (Garman 1899) Latin for many-browed or with a large forehead, referring to its “massive” head

Poromitra gibbsi Parin & Borodulina 1989 in honor of the late Robert H. Gibbs, Jr. (1929–1988), U.S. National Museum, “one of the foremost authorities on mesopelagic ichthyofauna” (translation)

Poromitra glochidiata Kotlyar 2008 botanical Latin for barbed at the tip, from the Greek glōchís (γλωχῑ́ς), barb ofan arrow or projecting point, referring to hook-like spinules on preoperculum

Poromitra indooceanica Kotlyar 2008 -ica (L.), belonging to: Indian Ocean, where it occurs in the subtropical zone

Poromitra jucunda Kotlyar 2010 Latin for attractive or pleasant, allusion not explained nor evident

Poromitra kukuevi Kotlyar 2008 in honor of Russian ichthyologist Yefim Izrailevich Kukuev (1947–2022, also spelled Kukujev and Kukuyev), Atlantic Scientific Research Institute of Marine Fisheries & Oceanography (AtlantNIRO), for his contributions to the study of deep-sea fishes

Poromitra macrophthalma (Gilchrist 1903) large-eyed, from makrós (μακρός), long or large, and ophthalmós (ὀφθαλμός), eye, its diameter ½ height of body and nearly two times in length of head

Poromitra megalops (Lütken 1878) mégas (μέγας), large or great; ṓps (ὦψ), eye, referring to its larger eyes compared with Melamphes typhlops, its presumed congener at the time

Poromitra nigriceps (Zugmayer 1911) nigro-, from niger (L.), dark or black; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, allusion not explained but clearly referring to its large black head

Poromitra nigrofulva (Garman 1899) nigro-, from niger (L.), dark or black; fulva (L.), brown (actually tawny or reddish brown), allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its brown-yellow color in life and black color in alcohol

Poromitra oscitans Ebeling 1975 Latin for listless, lazy or sluggish, referring to the “presumed sluggish nature of this large-mouthed fish”

Poromitra rugosa (Chapman 1939) Latin for wrinkled or shriveled (rugose), referring to “rough and spinous nature” of head

Poromitra unicornis (Gilbert 1905) Latin for one-horned, i.e., a unicorn, referring to a slender horn-like spine arising from middle of snout above nostrils, directed vertically upwards

Scopeloberyx Zugmayer 1911 Scopelus, an old name of some large-eyed fish, from skopós (σκοπός), looker, historically applied to lanternfishes and other pelagic or deep-sea fishes with large eyes, here referring to “slightly compressed and scopeliform” (translation) body shape of S. opercularis; beryx, a beryciform fish

Scopeloberyx bannikovi Kotlyar 2004 in honor of Russian ichthyopaleontologist Aleksandr Fedorovich Bannikov (b. 1954), Russian Academy of Sciences, who “repeatedly rendered [Kotlyar] invaluable aid in his investigations” (translation)

Scopeloberyx malayanus (Weber 1913) -anus (L.), belonging to: Malay Archipelago, where Manipa Strait, type locality, is situated

Scopeloberyx malayanus balushkini Kotlyar 2004 in honor of “prominent” Russian ichthyologist Arkadii Vladimirovich Balushkin (1948–2021), Russian Academy of Sciences, whose numerous publication on systematics of oceanic fishes of the Southern Hemisphere are “well known in Russia and abroad” (translation)

Scopeloberyx maxillaris (Garman 1899) Latin for of or belonging to the jaw, presumably referring to maxillary “more than half as long as the head, reaching one diameter of the orbit farther backward than the latter”

Scopeloberyx microlepis (Norman 1937) micro-, from mikrós (μικρός), small; lepís (λεπίς), scale, referring to its smaller scales compared with S. opisthopterus

Scopeloberyx opercularis Zugmayer 1911 Latin for opercular, presumably referring to operculum bearing a pointed membranous extension supported by an outgrowth of the opercular bone

Scopeloberyx opisthopterus (Parr 1933) rear-finned, from ópisthen (ὄπισθεν), behind, and pterus, from pterón (πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to “very posterior” insertion of ventral fins

Scopeloberyx pequenoi Kotlyar 2004 in honor of German Pequeño R. (b. 1941), Universidad Austral de Chile, a “great expert” in the ichthyofauna of the southeastern Pacific Ocean (translation)

Scopeloberyx robustus (Günther 1887) Latin for of oak or oaken and, by extension, hard, firm or solid (but often used by ichthyologists to mean fat or stout), allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “thick” head

Scopeloberyx rossicus Kotlyar 2004 -icus (L.), belonging to: Rossiya (Latinization of Russia in the Russian language), referring to its distribution in the Far East marine waters of Russia

Scopeloberyx rubriventer (Koefoed 1953) rubri-, from ruber (L.), red; venter (L.), belly, referring to a “red tinge” from base of pectoral fin towards anus

Scopeloberyx shakhovskoyi Kotlyar 2024 in honor of Ilya Borisovich Shakhovskoy, P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Moscow), a “great expert in flying fishes of the World Ocean” and Kotlyar’s colleague for many years

Scopelogadus Vaillant 1888 combining the form of Scopelus (=Myctophum, Myctophidae) with the thoracic ventral fins of Gadus, or cod

Scopelogadus beanii (Günther 1887) in honor of ichthyologist Tarleton H. Bean (1846-1916), U.S. National Museum, who described this species as Plectromus crassiceps in 1885, secondarily preoccupied by Scopelus (now Promitra) crassiceps Günther 1878 when Günther placed both in Melamphaes

Scopelogadus bispinosus (Gilbert 1915) bi-, from bis (L.), twice; spinosus (L.), thorny, referring to two spinous rays in dorsal fin

Scopelogadus mizolepis (Günther 1878) mizo-, from meizón (μείζων), greater; lepís (λεπίς), scale; although scales were missing on the specimen Günther examined, he surmised they were of an “unusually large size”

Scopelogadus multilamellatus Kotlyar 2021 multi– (L.), many; lamellatus (L), arranged in thin layers or plates, referring to larger number of pseudobranchial filaments (9–11) compared with S. mizolepis, S. bispinosus and S. beanii (2–8)

Scopelogadus perplexus Kotlyar 2021 Latin for confusing or ambiguous, referring to how it had been misidentified as S. mizolepis and S. bispinosus

Scopelogadus unispinis Ebeling & Weed 1963 uni-, from unus (L.), one; spinis, from spinus (L.), thorn, referring to single spinous ray of dorsal fin

Sio Moss 1962 “an arbitrary combination of letters, neuter in gender” (allusion not explained, but of the 34 specimens that Moss examined, five were from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whose official abbreviation is SIO)

Sio nordenskjoldii (Lönnberg 1905) in honor of Lönnberg’s friend Otto Nordenskjöld (1869–1928), Finnish-Swedish geologist, geographer and polar explorer, who led expedition during which holotype was collected