COMMENTS
v. 4.0 – 21 March 2024 view/download PDF
20 families · 56 genera · 308 species/subspecies (taxonomic note: contains taxa placed in the former Order Pempheriformes)
Family SCOMBROPIDAE Gnomefishes
Scombrops Temminck & Schlegel 1845 etymology not explained, perhaps ops, appearance, a “curious fish” (translation) presumed to be related to mackerels (Scomber, Scombridae), and/or ops, eye, referring to “fairly large” (translation) eyes of S. cheilodipteroides (=boops)
Scombrops boops (Houttuyn 1782) bo, ox; ops, eye, referring to large eyes, which cover a large part of the head
Scombrops gilberti (Jordan & Snyder 1901) in honor of ichthyologist and fisheries biologist Charles H. Gilbert (1859-1928), Jordan’s student and later Stanford University colleague
Scombrops oculatus (Poey 1860) eyed, referring to its very large eyes, 3¼-3½ times in head
Family CHAMPSODONTIDAE Gapers
1 genus · 13 species
Champsodon Günther 1867 champsos, crocodile; odon, tooth, presumably referring to long, depressible, needle-like teeth
Champsodon atridorsalis Ochiai & Nakamura 1964 atri-, black; dorsalis, dorsal, referring to first dorsal fin “jet-black distally”
Champsodon capensis Regan 1908 –ensis, suffix denoting place: south coast of Cape Colony, South Africa, type locality
Champsodon fimbriatus Gilbert 1905 fringed, presumably referring to “wide membranous margin” of opercle “much more coarsely fringed” than in C. vorax
Champsodon guentheri Regan 1908 in honor of ichthyologist and herpetologist Albert Günther (1830-1914), who proposed the genus in 1867 and reported this species as C. vorax in 1880
Champsodon longipinnis Matsubara & Amaoka 1964 longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to long pelvic fin, reaching beyond vent
Champsodon machaeratus Nemeth 1994 –atus, provided with: machaira, saber or dagger, referring to stout lacrimal spine
Champsodon nudivittis (Ogilby 1895) nudus, bare or naked; vittis, band, referring to “regularly arranged series of naked [scaleless] bands” on body
Champsodon omanensis Regan 1908 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Gulf of Oman, type locality
Champsodon pantolepis Nemeth 1994 pantos, all; lepis, scale, referring to body completely covered by scales
Champsodon sagittus Nemeth 1994 arrow, referring to pointed premaxillary and symphysis and narrow, elongate body
Champsodon sechellensis Regan 1908 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Seychelles (Regan omitted the “y”), Indian Ocean, type locality
Champsodon snyderi Franz 1910 in honor of ichthyologist John Otterbein Snyder (1867-1943), who, along with David Starr Jordan, reported this species as C. vorax in 1902 (and whose papers with Jordan on the fishes of Japan are cited many times by Franz)
Champsodon vorax Günther 1867 voracious, presumably referring to “exceedingly wide” cleft of mouth
Family CREEDIIDAE Sandburrowers
8 genera · 18 species
Apodocreedia de Beaufort 1948 a-, without; podus, foot, related to Creedia but distinguished by the absence of ventral fins
Apodocreedia vanderhorsti de Beaufort 1948 in honor of Cornelius Jan van der Horst (1889-1951), Head of the Zoology Department, Witwatersrand University (Johannesburg, South Africa), who collected type with his students
Chalixodytes Schultz 1943 chalix, pebble or rubble; dytes, diver, referring to its habit of diving and burrowing into fine coral gravel (from where it was captured)
Chalixodytes tauensis Schultz 1943 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tau, a “beautiful tropical island” at Siulagi Point, American Samoa, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from South Africa, East Africa, Seychelles and western Mascarenes east to Marshall and Marquesas islands and Pitcairn Group, south to New Caledonia)
Creedia Ogilby 1898 –ia, belonging to: Ogilby’s friend John Mildred Creed (1842-1930), English-born Australian physician and politician, “to whose unfailing kindness and support my present position in science is mostly due”
Creedia alleni Nelson 1983 in honor of Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), who brought this species to Nelson’s attention, for his many contributions to ichthyology
Creedia bilineata Shimada & Yoshino 1987 bi-, two; lineata, lined, referring to two stripes on body in life
Creedia haswelli (Ramsay 1881) in honor of Scottish-born Australian zoologist William Aitcheson Haswell (1854-1925), an “esteemed friend”
Creedia partimsquamigera Nelson 1983 partim, partly; squamigera, scale bearing, referring to absence of scales on anterior body except for lateral line and a paired predorsal row
Crystallodytes Fowler 1923 crystallus, crystal (i.e., crystalline); dytes, diver, referring to how C. cookei “moves easily through the moist sand with which it harmonizes to a remarkable degree,” an effect “heightened by its transparent or pellucid body”
Crystallodytes cookei Fowler 1923 in honor of conchologist Charles Montague Cook, Jr. (1874-1948), Bishop Museum, Honolulu, who collected type
Crystallodytes enderburyensis Schultz 1943 –ensis, suffix denoting place: reef at Enderbury Island, Phoenix Islands, western Pacific, type locality
Crystallodytes pauciradiatus Nelson & Randall 1985 paucus, few; radiatus, rayed, referring to low number of dorsal-, anal- and pectoral-fin rays relative to C. cookei
Limnichthys Waite 1904 limno-, pool; ichthys, fish, referring to occurrence of L. fasciatus in rock pools
Limnichthys fasciatus Waite 1904 banded, presumably referring to a series of transverse bars along upper body and/or black lateral band
Limnichthys marisrubri Fricke & Golani 2012 maris, sea; rubrus, red, referring to the Red Sea, where it is endemic
Limnichthys nitidus Smith 1958 neat, elegant or shining, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to robust, fusiform body, which “tapers almost uniformly to snout”
Limnichthys orientalis Yoshino, Kon & Okabe 1999 eastern, known only from the Ryukyu Islands of Japan
Limnichthys polyactis Nelson 1978 poly, many; actis, ray, referring to relatively large number of anal-fin rays compared to congeners
Limnichthys rendahli Parrott 1958 in honor of zoologist and artist Hialmar Rendahl (1891-1969), who reported this species as L. fasciatus in 1925
Myopsaron Shibukawa 2010 mys, mouse, referring to “unique globular-shaped fleshy extension at tip of upper jaw, resembling the nose of [a] mouse”; opsaron, little fish (derived from opsarion, a little fish used as a relish that complements the staple part of a meal), referring to small size, described at 22.1-36.3 mm SL
Myopsaron nelsoni Shibukawa 2010 in honor of Joseph S. Nelson (1937-2011), for his “great” contribution to our knowledge about taxonomy and the systematics of creediine fishes
Schizochirus Waite 1904 schizo-, split; cheiros, hand, referring to pectoral fin formed of two sharply contrasted parts, a short upper part of divided rays, and a longer lower part of modified thickened rays
Schizochirus insolens Waite 1904 proud, haughty or arrogant, allusion not explained nor evident
Tewara Griffin 1933 etymology not explained nor evident, nor derived from a Maori name (per Paulin & Roberts, Rockpool Fishes of New Zealand, 1992); FishBase says genus is named for Tewara Island, Papua New Guinea, but it does not occur there
Tewara cranwellae Griffin 1933 in honor of Lucy Cranwell (1907-2000), Curator of Botany, Auckland Museum (New Zealand), who brought type to Griffin, then assistant director of the Museum
Family HEMEROCOETIDAE Signalfishes
8 genera · 27 species
Acanthaphritis Günther 1880 acanthus, thorn or spine, presumably referring to forward-pointing spine on preorbital of A. grandisquamis; Aphritis (=Pseudaphritis, Notothenioidei: Pseudaphritidae), presumed closest relative at the time
Acanthaphritis barbata (Okamura & Kishida 1963) bearded, referring to slender barbel symphysis of upper jaw
Acanthaphritis grandisquamis Günther 1880 grandis, large; squamis, scale, referring to large, ciliated scales
Acanthaphritis ozawai (McKay 1971) in honor of Keijiro Ozawa, Captain of the Umitaka Maru, vessel from which type was trawled; Ozawa donated type and other fishes to the Western Australian Museum
Acanthaphritis unoorum Suzuki & Nakabo 1996 –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of Masami Uno and Akira Uno, who collected holotype and some paratypes from the Sea of Japan off Hyogo Prefecture
Dactylopsaron Parin 1990 dactylus, finger, referring to digitiform dermal processes of operculum; psaron, Greek for a small fish (derived from opsarion, a little fish used as a relish that complements the staple part of a meal), referring to small size (29 mm SL) and its previous use in the names Pteropsaron and Osopsaron
Dactylopsaron dimorphicum Parin & Belyanina 1990 referring to sexually dimorphic differences in body size and structure and length of first dorsal fin (larger and longer in males, respectively)
Enigmapercis Whitley 1936 enigma, something obscure or inexplicable, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to separated dorsal fins of E. reducta, or to Whitley’s observations (reported in 1937) of the type specimen, “brought to the Museum alive in a small bottle, together with dredged gravel and shells, which it imitated in coloration to a surprising degree. It lay on the bottom and, to increase the disguise, placed some of the shells on its head and shoulders by flicking with its pectoral fins. It was very hardy, living for a surprising time even in formalin”; percis, perch, probably referring to its initial placement in the family Parapercidae (=Pinguipedidae, Uranoscopiformes)
Enigmapercis acutirostris Parin 1990 acutus, sharp or pointed; rostris, snout, referring to one of its “characteristic features” (translation)
Enigmapercis reducta Whitley 1936 etymology not explained, perhaps reduced, referring to spinous dorsal fin reduced to a couple of small spines, and/or separate, referring to how spinous dorsal fin is well separated from soft dorsal fin
Hemerocoetes Valenciennes 1837 based on hemerokoites or “day-sleeper” from Oppian, referring to Uranoscopus scaber (Uranoscopiformes) or some other fish with upward-facing eyes that buries itself (i.e., “sleeps”) in the sand
Hemerocoetes artus Nelson 1979 narrow, referring to relatively narrow interorbital distance
Hemerocoetes macrophthalmus Regan 1914 macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, referring to larger eyes compared to H. pauciradiatus (described in the same publication)
Hemerocoetes monopterygius (Schneider 1801) mono-, one; pterygius, fin, proposed in the genus Callionymus (Syngnathiformes: Callionymidae) but with one, instead of two, dorsal fins
Hemerocoetes morelandi Nelson 1979 in honor of John “Jock” Munne Moreland (1921-2012), Curator of Ichthyology and Herpetology, National Museum of New Zealand, “in recognition of a fine gentleman and New Zealand ichthyologist”
Hemerocoetes pauciradiatus Regan 1914 paucus, few; radiatus, rayed, referring to fewer dorsal- (32 vs. 39) and anal-fin (32 vs. 36) rays compared to H. macrophthalmus (described in the same publication)
Matsubaraea Taki 1953 named for Kiyomatsu Matsubara (1907-1968), ichthyologist-herpetologist, Kyoto University, as a “slight token of my gratitude for his kind direction in ichthyological observations”
Matsubaraea fusiformis (Fowler 1943) named for its fusiform or spindle-like shape
Osopsaron Jordan & Starks 1904 os, etymology not explained, perhaps referring to Ose Point, Suruga Bay, Japan, type locality of O. verecundum; opsaron, Greek for a small fish (derived from opsarion, a little fish used as a relish that complements the staple part of a meal), in this case referring to previous placement in Pteropsaron
Osopsaron formosense Kao & Shen 1985 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Formosa (Taiwan), where type locality (Guishan Island) is situated (occurs in western Pacific from Taiwan to southern Japan and off New Ireland, Papua New Guinea)
Osopsaron karlik Parin 1985 Russian for dwarf, referring to small size, 20-42 mm SL
Osopsaron verecundum (Jordan & Snyder 1902) modest, probably referring to low first dorsal and anal fins compared to greatly elevated as in Pteropsaron evolans, its presumed congener at the time
Pteropsaron Jordan & Snyder 1902 ptero-, fin, referring to elevated first dorsal and deep anal fins of P. evolans; psaron, Greek for a small fish (derived from opsarion, a little fish used as a relish that complements the staple part of a meal), referring to small size of P. evolans, which reaches 7 cm SL
Pteropsaron dabfar Iwamoto 2014 named for the research vessel DA-BFAR of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Agriculture, from which type was trawled
Pteropsaron evolans Jordan & Snyder 1902 flying away, presumably referring to “greatly elevated” first dorsal and anal fins
Pteropsaron heemstrai Nelson 1982 in honor of Phillip C. Heemstra (1941-2019), J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology (now South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity), for “valuable” contributions to ichthyology
Pteropsaron incisum Gilbert 1905 notch, presumably referring to deep notch on tip of snout (also notched on P. evolans and P. [now Osopsaron] verecundum)
Pteropsaron indicum Victor & Kumar 2019 Indian, known only from the Lakshadweep Sea (Laccadive Sea) off Kerala, southern India
Pteropsaron levitoni Iwamoto 2014 in honor of herpetologist Alan E. Leviton (b. 1930), Curator Emeritus of the California Academy of Sciences, who “strongly promoted” the publication in which description was published, using his “considerable technical knowledge of desk-top publishing to produce this work, and who provided much advice and support with this paper”
Pteropsaron longipinnis Allen & Erdmann 2012 longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to elongate dorsal and pelvic fins, particularly the latter, which distinguish it from its nearest relative, P. springeri
Pteropsaron natalense (Nelson 1982) –ensis, suffix denoting place: northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where type locality (off Kosi Bay) is situated
Pteropsaron neocaledonicum Fourmanoir & Rivaton 1979 –icus, belonging to: New Caledonia, where type locality (Isle of Pines) is situated
Pteropsaron springeri Smith & Johnson 2007 in honor of colleague Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), who first collected this species and recognized it as undescribed, for his “many contributions to our knowledge of Indo-Pacific reef fishes, and his unselfish and steadfast dedication to the growth and well being of the collections and the advancement of ichthyology at the National Museum of Natural History”
Squamicreedia Rendahl 1921 squamus, scale, referring to “strikingly large” (translation) cycloid scales; Creedia (Creediidae), its presumed closest relative at the time
Squamicreedia obtusa Rendahl 1921 obtuse, referring to broad, rounded snout, protruding a little over the lower jaw
Family HOWELLIDAE Oceanic Basslets
3 genera · 10 species
Bathysphyraenops Parr 1933 bathys, deep, referring to occurrence of B. simplex at 213-244 m; sphyraenops, presumed to be related to Parasphyraenops (Perciformes: Serranidae)
Bathysphyraenops declivifrons Fedoryako 1976 declivis, steep; frons, forehead, referring to “characteristic shape [profile] of anterior portion of head” (translation)
Bathysphyraenops radhae Rajakrishnan, Rajeeshkumar, Cubelio & Prokofiev 2022 in honor of the senior author’s late grandmother, Radha
Bathysphyraenops simplex Parr 1933 simple, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to how it differs from species of Galeagra (=Howella), “chiefly in the simple character” of its “simple, slender” opercular spine [placed in Howella without explanation by some workers]
Howella Ogilby 1899 –ella, a diminutive, named after Lord Howe Island, Australia, type locality of H. brodiei
Howella atlantica Post & Quéro 1991 –ica, belonging to: proposed as an Atlantic subspecies of the Indo-Pacific H. brodiei
Howella brodiei Ogilby 1899 in honor of James Adam Brodie (1858-1940), friend and Visiting Magistrate of Lord Howe Island, Australia (type locality), who has been “indefatigable in his endeavours to assist [Ogilby] in elucidating the ichthyological fauna of this lonely oceanic islet”
Howella pammelas (Heller & Snodgrass 1903) pam-, all; melas, black, referring to black color in life (with metallic-green iridescence)
Howella parini Fedoryako 1976 in honor of ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932-2012), Russian Academy of Sciences
Howella sherborni (Norman 1930) in honor of Charles Davies Sherborn (1861-1942), English geologist, paleontologist and bibliographer, “to whose extensive and unrivalled knowledge of matters of nomenclature the author is greatly indebted, as a slight appreciation of his magnificent work, the Index Animalium”
Howella zina Fedoryako 1976 in honor of ZIN (Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences), “where type specimens of many deepwater fishes collected by Soviet oceanographic expeditions are stored” (translation)
Pseudohowella Fedoryako 1976 pseudo-, false, referring to its “clear relation” (translation) to Howella
Pseudohowella intermedia Fedoryako 1976 intermediate, allusion not explained, probably referring to intermediate appearance between Howella species and Bathysphyraenops declivifrons (Artém Prokofiev, pers. comm.)
Family SYNAGROPIDAE Splitfin Ocean-Basses
4 genera · 17 species
Caraibops Prokofiev & Schwarzhans 2017 caraib, collective name for Indian tribes formerly inhabiting the Caribbean, where C. trispinosus occurs; ops, appearance, but in this case referring to the “similar sounding” name of the related genus Parascombrops
Caraibops trispinosus (Mochizuki & Sano 1984) tri-, three; spinosus, spiny, referring to three anal-fin spines
Kaperangus Prokofiev & Schwarzhans 2017 latinization of the Russian kaperang, “an abbreviation for the rank of captain required for long range oceanic cruises; and dedicated to the crews of research vessels who have collected so many marine organisms for scientists”
Kaperangus microlepis (Norman 1935) micro-, small; lepis, scale, referring to smaller scales compared to Synagrops bellus and S. japonicus, its presumed congeners at the time
Parascombrops Alcock 1889 para-, near, referring to presumed “nearest alliance” with Scombrops (Scombropidae)
Parascombrops analis (Katayama 1957) anal, referring to three anal-fin spines
Parascombrops argyreus (Gilbert & Cramer 1897) silvery, referring to color of tail, sides of head, and lower ⅗ of trunk
Parascombrops glossodon Schwarzhans & Prokofiev 2017 glossa, tongue; odon, tooth, referring to teeth on tongue, its main diagnostic character
Parascombrops madagascariensis Schwarzhans & Prokofiev 2017 –ensis, suffix denoting place: shelf and upper slope around Madagascar, type locality (also occurs at Réunion Island)
Parascombrops mochizukii Schwarzhans, Prokofiev & Ho 2017 in honor of ichthyologist Kenji Mochizuki, Natural History Museum and Institution (Chiba, Japan), for his many contributions to the knowledge of acropomatid (including Synagropidae) fishes; he was also the first to record specimens of this species from the western Pacific, then regarded as representing Synagrops spinosus
Parascombrops nakayamai Schwarzhans & Prokofiev 2017 in honor of Naohide Nakayama (Kochi University, Japan), who was the first to recognize this species as different from P. philippinensis based on a specimen collected from Tosa Bay, near Kochi, Japan
Parascombrops ohei Schwarzhans & Prokofiev 2017 in honor of Fumio Ohe, paleontologist, ichthyologist and evolutionary marine biologist, Nagoya University (Japan), the “otolith specialist who first recognized the presence of a hitherto unrecorded species of Parascombrops in the Pliocene record of Japan”
Parascombrops parvidens Schwarzhans & Prokofiev 2017 parvus, small; dens, teeth, referring to absence of enlarged canines on dentary
Parascombrops pellucidus (Alcock 1889) clear or transparent, described as “transparent light brown” in life, “suffused with the pink reflex of the great vessels”
Parascombrops philippinensis (Günther 1880) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Philippines, type locality (occurs in Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific from East Africa east to Philippines and Papua New Guinea, north to southern Sea of Japan, south to New Caledonia)
Parascombrops serratospinosus (Smith & Radcliffe 1912) serratus, saw-toothed; spinosus, spiny, referring to serrated anterior edges of pelvic-, anal- and second dorsal-fin spines
Parascombrops spinosus (Schultz 1940) spiny, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to spined dorsal, pelvic and anal fins
Parascombrops yamanouei Schwarzhans, Prokofiev & Ho 2017 in honor of ichthyologist Yusuke Yamanoue, University of Tokyo, for his many contributions to the knowledge of acropomatid (including Synagropidae) fishes; he also recognized that this species might be undescribed
Synagrops Günther 1887 etymology not explained, possibly synagris, ancient Greek name of Dentex dentex (Acanthuriformes: Sparidae) dating back to Aristotle; ops, appearance (although we fail to see a resemblance)
Synagrops bellus (Goode & Bean 1896) beautiful, allusion not explained, described from a faded specimen with “traces of purplish brown on the upper parts and the head; spinous dorsal with a dark triangular blotch on its upper portion extending from the second to the sixth spine, involving less than half the height of the membrane”
Synagrops japonicus (Döderlein 1883) Japanese, referring to Tokyo, Japan, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from East Africa, Madagascar and Réunion Island east to Hawaiian and Gilbert islands, north to southern Japan, south to Western Australia and New Caledonia)
Family MALAKICHTHYIDAE Temperate Ocean-Basses
3 genera · 17 species
Hemilutjanus Bleeker 1876 hemi-, partial, presumed to be related to the snapper or fusilier genus Lutjanus (Lutjaniformes: Lutjanidae)
Hemilutjanus macrophthalmos (Tschudi 1846) macro-, large; ophthalmos, eye, referring to its large, dark eyes
Malakichthys Döderlein 1883 malakos, soft, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “Very delicate head bones” (translation) of M. griseus; ichthys, fish
Malakichthys barbatus Yamanoue & Yoseda 2001 bearded, referring to numerous spines on chin
Malakichthys elegans Matsubara & Yamaguti 1943 fine or select, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to more slender body compared to M. griseus and M. wakiyai
Malakichthys formosus Ng, Liu & Joung 2023 –osus (L.), adjectival suffix, i.e., Formosan, referring to Formosa, historical name of Taiwan, where type locality (off Donggang, Pingtung County, northern South China Sea) is situated
Malakichthys griseus Döderlein 1883 gray, referring to uniformly gray color of sides (silvery below)
Malakichthys levis Yamanoue & Matsuura 2002 smooth or bald, referring to absence of tooth-like spines on chin
Malakichthys mochizuki Yamanoue & Matsuura 2002 in honor of ichthyologist Kenji Mochizuki, Natural History Museum and Institution (Chiba, Japan), who “kindly” made his own data and specimens available to the authors [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Malakichthys similis Yamanoue & Matsuura 2004 similar, referring to similarity with M. griseus
Malakichthys wakiyae Jordan & Hubbs 1925 in honor of Yojiro Wakiya (also spelled Yohiro Wakia), superintendent of the Korean Government Fisheries Experiment Station, who collected most of the type series [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]
Verilus Poey 1860 according to Poey (1871) from veril, a Spanish word meaning “haut-fond coupé à pic,” i.e., a steeply cut shoal or sand bank, allusion not explained, whereas Jordan & Evermann (1898) suggest name refers to form of the teeth of V. sordidus; Poey originally did not provide an etymology, instead advising the reader, “Do not worry about the origin of the name, the best are not the most etymological by the fact that they seldom have an exclusive meaning” (translation) [our guess is that Poey simply liked the name and applied it to V. sordidus without any specific relevance to the fish, which, for the record, occurs over rocky bottoms and is not known to be associated with shoals; in fact, Poey (1860) said it occurred at “great depths (translation)]
Verilus anomalus (Ogilby 1896) odd or irregular, probably referring to Ogilby’s being “puzzled” about which family to place this species, guessing that it is an “aberrant Apogonid with sciaenoid affinities”
Verilus atlanticus (Mochizuki & Sano 1984) –icus, belonging to: Atlantic, referring to its occurrence in the Caribbean Sea (of the western Atlantic)
Verilus costai Schwarzhans, Mincarone & Villarins 2020 in honor of Paulo Alberto Silva da Costa, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, for his contribution to the knowledge of deep-sea fishes off Brazil
Verilus cynodon (Regan 1921) cyno-, dog; odon, tooth, referring to its “stronger” anterior canines compared to Acropoma japonicum (Acropomatidae), its presumed congener at the time
Verilus pacificus (Mochizuki 1979) –icus, belonging to: referring to distribution in the Pacific Ocean off Japan compared to the distribution of Neoscombrops annectens (=V. cynodon) in the southwestern Indian Ocean
Verilus pseudomicrolepis (Schultz 1940) pseudo-, false, i.e., although this species is similar to Synagrops (now Kaperangus) microlepis (Synagropidae), its presumed congener at the time, such an appearance is false
Verilus sordidus Poey 1860 dirty, presumably referring to brownish-violet body color
Verilus starnesi Yamanoue 2016 in honor of zoologist Wayne C. Starnes, North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, who “contributed to the taxonomy of this group and kindly made his own data available”
Family ACROPOMATIDAE Lanternbellies
2 genera · 13 species
Acropoma Temminck & Schlegel 1843 acro-, at the end or tip; poma, lid or covering, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to operculum produced into a long denticulated point
Acropoma arafurense Okamoto, Williams, Carpenter, Santos & Kimura 2019 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Arafura Sea, off Northern Territory, Australia, type locality
Acropoma argentistigma Okamoto & Ida 2002 argentinus, silvery; stigma, mark or spot, referring to many silver spots around ventral surface of body and on pelvic and anal fins
Acropoma boholense Yamanoue & Matsuura 2002 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bohol Sea, Philippines, type locality (also occurs in South China Sea)
Acropoma hanedai Matsubara 1953 in honor of Yata Haneda (1907-1995), who studied luminescent organisms, including lanternbellies, and established the Haneda Luminous Pisces Collection at the Yokosuka City Museum (Japan)
Acropoma heemstrai Okamoto & Golani 2017 in honor of ichthyologist Phillip C. Heemstra (1941-2019), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, for his “great” contributions to studies of percoid fshes from the western Indian Ocean
Acropoma japonicum Günther 1859 Japanese, referring to Japanese Sea, type locality (occurs in western Pacific from northern Viêt Nam and China to Japan)
Acropoma lecorneti Fourmanoir 1988 in honor of D. Lecornet of Nouméa, New Caledonia, fisherman and owner of boat from which type was collected
Acropoma leobergi Prokofiev 2018 in honor of Lev (or Leo) Semyonovich Berg (1876-1950), the “patriarch” (translation) of Russian ichthyology, after whom the fishing vessel Academician Berg was also named, and from which type series was collected in 1967
Acropoma musorstom Okamoto, Randall & Motomura 2021 named for the acronym MUSORSTOM, for a series of exploratory cruises in the waters of Vanuatu, during which holotype was collected
Acropoma neglectum Okamoto & Golani 2017 overlooked, referring to this species having been identified as A. japonicum for a long time
Acropoma profundum Okamoto 2014 deep, collected at 1169-1203 m, deeper than all its congeners
Acropoma splendens (Lloyd 1909) bright or shining, referring to its scales, “very bright and silvery with a fine blue iridescence”
Doederleinia Steindachner 1883 –ia, belonging to: German zoologist Ludwig Döderlein (1855-1936), formerly with the Imperial University at Tokyo, who collaborated with Steindachner in studying the fishes of Japan, and who described (in manuscript) the putative type species D. orientalis (=berycoides)
Doederleinia berycoides (Hilgendorf 1879) –oides, having the form of: allusion not explained, perhaps referring to similarity with Beryx decadactylus (Beryciformes: Berycidae), both of which have reddish bodies and fins and very large eyes
Family SYMPHYSANODONTIDAE Slopefishes
2 genera · 13 species
Cymatognathus Kimura, Johnson, Peristiwady & Matsuura 2017 kymatos, wave; gnathos, jaw, referring to characteristic wavy upper contour of lower jaw
Cymatognathus aureolateralis Kimura, Johnson, Peristiwady & Matsuura 2017 aurum, gold; lateralis, side, referring to bright yellow marking laterally on body
Symphysanodon Bleeker 1877 symphysis, grown together (sym, together; physis, growth, body form or appearance); an-, without; odon, tooth, referring to absence of teeth located over area where the two jaw halves meet (the symphysis)
Symphysanodon andersoni Kotthaus 1974 in honor of William D. Anderson, Jr., Grice Marine Biological Laboratory (Charleston, South Carolina, USA), for his work on Symphysanodon, his examination of this species, and sharing his findings with Kotthaus
Symphysanodon berryi Anderson 1970 in honor of marine biologist Frederick H. Berry (1927-2001), National Marine Fisheries Service, who “first brought [this species] to my attention and who has taught me, stimulated my interest, and encouraged me”
Symphysanodon disii Khalaf & Krupp 2008 in honor of Ahmad M. Disi (b. 1942), Professor of Zoology, University of Jordan, for his contributions to our knowledge of the vertebrate fauna of Jordan (type locality)
Symphysanodon katayamai Anderson 1970 in honor of Masao Katayama, (Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi City, Japan), who made it possible for Anderson to examine specimens of Symphysanodon from Japan
Symphysanodon maunaloae Anderson 1970 of Mauna Loa, an active volcano in Hawai‘i, where holotype and paratypes were killed by lava flows in 1915 and 1950, respectively (widely occurs elsewhere in eastern Indian and Pacific oceans)
Symphysanodon mona Anderson & Springer 2005 named for Mona Passage, off west coast of Puerto Rico, type locality
Symphysanodon octoactinus Anderson 1970 octo-, eight; actinus, rayed, referring to the “usual” number of soft anal-fin rays
Symphysanodon parini Anderson & Springer 2005 in honor of ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932-2012), Russian Academy of Sciences, “who provided the material on which the description is based and who has been of invaluable assistance to us and other ichthyologists for many years”
Symphysanodon pitondelafournaisei Quéro, Spitz & Vayne 2009 of Piton de la Fournaise, an active volcano on Réunion Island, western Mascarenes, southwestern Indian Ocean, whose eruption in 2007 brought type specimens to the surface
Symphysanodon rhax Anderson & Springer 2005 berry or grape, referring to its similarity with S. berryi
Symphysanodon typus Bleeker 1877 serving as type of genus
Symphysanodon xanthopterygion Anderson & Bineesh 2011 xanthos, yellow; pterygion, fin, referring to yellow coloration of lower caudal-fin lobe
Family EPIGONIDAE Deepwater Cardinalfishes
6 genera · 50 species
Brephostoma Alcock 1889 brephos, fetus, embryo or babe; stoma, mouth, presumably referring to “small, oblique, weak” and toothless mouth
Brephostoma carpenteri Alcock 1889 of Carpenter Ridge, Bay of Bengal, type locality (circumglobal in tropical and subtropical seas, including Hawaiian Islands)
Epigonus Rafinesque 1810 epi-, above; gonus, angle, referring to slightly curved back of E. macrophthalmus (=telescopus), angled anteriorly (from first dorsal fin to head)
Epigonus affinis Parin & Abramov 1986 related, referring to similarity with E. elegans
Epigonus angustifrons Abramov & Manilo 1987 angustus, narrow; frons, front, face or brow, referring to its narrow interorbital space
Epigonus atherinoides (Gilbert 1905) –oides, having the form of: silversides (Atherinidae: Atherina), allusion not explained but probably referring to “extremely elongate” body
Epigonus bispinosus Okamoto & Gon 2018 bi-, two; spinosus, spiny, referring to two spines found on symphysis of lower jaw
Epigonus carbonarius Okamoto & Motomura 2011 charcoal, referring to blackish coloration of body and fins
Epigonus cavaticus Ida, Okamoto & Sakaue 2007 living in a cave, referring to sampling location, a cave, depth 20 meters, at Virgin Hole, a southern fringing reef of Ngemelis Island, Palau
Epigonus chilensis Okamoto 2012 –ensis, suffix denoting place: off Chile in the eastern South Pacific, type locality
Epigonus constanciae (Giglioli 1880) in honor of Constanza Giglioli (1849-1940), a writer of educational books and Giglioli’s wife and “beloved companion” (translation)
Epigonus crassicaudus de Buen 1959 crassus, thick; cauda, tail, referring to “thick and relatively tall” (translation) caudal peduncle
Epigonus ctenolepis Mochizuki & Shirakihara 1983 ctenos, comb; lepis, scale, referring to ctenoid scales on lateral line
Epigonus denticulatus Dieuzeide 1950 denticulated, i.e., finely toothed or notched, referring to denticulate operculum
Epigonus devaneyi Gon 1985 in honor of Dennis P. Deveney (1938-1983), Invertebrate Zoologist, Bishop Museum (Honolulu), who was lost at sea while diving off the island of Hawai‘i
Epigonus draco Okamoto 2015 dragon, referring to slender body and distinct scale pattern in which dark-edged scale pockets form a reticulate pattern on skin
Epigonus elegans Parin & Abramov 1986 elegant or well-proportioned, referring to small size and slender build
Epigonus elongatus Parin & Abramov 1986 referring to its characteristically elongate body
Epigonus exodon Okamoto & Motomura 2012 exo-, out; odon, tooth, referring to exposed anteriorly projecting teeth on symphysis of lower jaw
Epigonus fragilis (Jordan & Jordan 1922) fragile or delicate, referring to “elongate, fragile” body and/or “thin, readily falling” scales
Epigonus gemma Okamoto, Baldwin & Long 2024 Latin for bud, referring to the enlarged conical teeth on each side of the symphysis of the lower jaw
Epigonus glossodontus Gon 1985 glossa, tongue; odontus, tooth, referring to long and slender lingual teeth, arranged in a V-shaped patch with the apex pointing anteriorly
Epigonus heracleus Parin & Abramov 1986 named for the fisheries research vessel Heraki (Russian for Hercules), from which type specimens were collected from seamounts near the Heezen and Eltanin Fractures in the South Pacific, which are known in Russian ichthyological literature as the Herakles Banks (Artém Prokofiev, pers. comm.)
Epigonus hexacanthus Okamoto, Baldwin & Long 2024 hexa-, six; acanthus, thorn or spine, referring to six spines on first dorsal fin
Epigonus idai Okamoto & Gon 2018 in honor of Hitoshi Ida, Professor Emeritus, Kitasato University, School of Marine Biosciences, for his contribution to Epigonus and other percoid studies in the Indo-Pacific region
Epigonus indicus Idrees Babu & Akhilesh 2020 –icus, belonging to: India, where type locality (Kavaratti Island, Laccadive Sea) is situated
Epigonus lenimen (Whitley 1935) a soothing remedy, alleviation, mitigation or solace, allusion not explained nor evident
Epigonus lifouensis Okamoto & Motomura 2013 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Lifou Island, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, western South Pacific, type locality
Epigonus machaera Okamoto 2012 Latin for sword; etymology section says name refers to its slender body, but its tongue is described as “narrow and sword-like” four times in the text
Epigonus macrops (Brauer 1906) macro-, large; ops, eye, 39.7-48.3% of HL
Epigonus marimonticolus Parin & Abramov 1986 maris, sea and montis, mountain (i.e., seamount); –icola, inhabiting, referring to its occurrence over the Error Seamount and other submarine elevations off southern India and the Farquhar Islands
Epigonus marisrubri Krupp, Zajonz & Khalaf 2009 maris, sea; rubrus, red, referring to the Red Sea, where it is endemic
Epigonus mayeri Okamoto 2011 in honor of Garry F. Mayer, National Marine Fisheries Service, for his many epigonid studies
Epigonus megalops (Smith & Radcliffe 1912) mega-, large; ops, eye, referring to “very large” elliptical eye
Epigonus notacanthus Parin & Abramov 1986 notus, back; acanthus, thorn or spine, referring to free spine on back between joined spinous and soft dorsal fins
Epigonus occidentalis Goode & Bean 1896 western, referring to distribution in the western Atlantic (compared to E. telescopus in the eastern Atlantic)
Epigonus oligolepis Mayer 1974 oligos, few; lepis, scale, referring to reduced number of lateral line scales (33-36) compared to congeners
Epigonus pandionis (Goode & Bean 1881) –is, genitive singular of: referring to the fish-hawk or osprey, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, named for the U.S. Fish Commission steamer Fish Hawk, from which type was collected
Epigonus parini Abramov 1987 in honor of “noted” (translation) Soviet ichthyologist Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932-2012), Russian Academy of Sciences
Epigonus pectinifer Mayer 1974 pecten, comb; fero, to bear, referring to comb-like gill rakers
Epigonus robustus (Barnard 1927) fat, stout, strong or robust, allusion not explained (body described as “rather elongate”)
Epigonus telescopus (Risso 1810) far seeing, referring to its large eyes
Epigonus thai Prokofiev & Bussarawit 2012 named after its capture in Thailand waters
Epigonus tuberculatus Okamoto & Motomura 2013 with tubercles, referring to tubercle on inner symphysis of lower jaw
Epigonus waltersensis Parin & Abramov 1986 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Walters Shoal, Madagascar submarine ridge, southwestern Indian Ocean, type locality
Florenciella Mead & De Falla 1965 –ella, diminutive connoting endearment: etymology not explained, perhaps in honor of the senior author’s sister, Florence Mead Mackay
Florenciella lugubris Mead & De Falla 1965 mournful or funereal, presumably referring to color in alcohol, with “uniformly dusk” sides, dark-brown fins, dark eye, and black mouth, pharynx, and abdominal cavities
Microichthys Rüppell 1852 micro-, small, referring to body length of M. coccoi, up to 3.0 cm TL; ichthys, fish
Microichthys atlanticus Fricke, Ordines & Williston 2020 –icus, belonging to: Atlantic Ocean (its congeners occur only in the Mediterranean Sea)
Microichthys coccoi Rüppell 1852 patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of Italian naturalist-pharmacist Anastasio Cocco (1799-1854), who described many fishes from the Mediterranean Sea of Italy (type locality)
Microichthys grandis Fricke & Couperus 2023 Latin for large, referring to its “unusually large” body size (54.5 mm SL) compared with congeners (16–40 mm SL)
Microichthys sanzoi Spartà 1950 in memory of marine biologist Luigi Sanzo (1874-1940), Spartà’s professor, “who in thirty years of scientific research, made valuable contributions to the knowledge of the development of abyssal Teleostei, of which the Strait of Messina [Mediterranean Sea, Italy, type locality] is prodigal” (translation)
Rosenblattia Mead & De Falla 1965 –ia, belonging to: Richard H. Rosenblatt (1930-2014), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “friend and fellow ichthyologist”
Rosenblattia robusta Mead & De Falla 1965 robust or stout, referring to its more robust body compared to other epigonids
Sphyraenops Gill 1861 Sphyraena, barracuda; ops, appearance, allusion not explained, presumably referring to what Poey (1868) later described as its Picuda (barracuda)-like shape
Sphyraenops bairdianus Poey 1861 –ianus, belonging to: Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), first curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History
Family POLYPRIONIDAE Wreckfishes
Polyprion Oken 1817 poly, many; prion, saw, referring to serrations on preopercle and anal- and pelvic-fin spines
Polyprion americanus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) American, based on a drawing sent by British physician-naturalist John Latham (1740-1837) to Schneider, representing a fish called “Girom” in America
Polyprion oxygeneios (Schneider & Forster 1801) oxy, sharp or pointed; geneios, chinned, presumably referring to protruding lower jaw
Family STEREOLEPIDIDAE Giant Sea Basses
Stereolepis Ayres 1859 stereos, solid, hard or firm; lepis, scale, referring to small but “very hard” scales of S. gigas
Stereolepis doederleini Lindberg & Krasyukova 1969 in honor of German zoologist Ludwig Döderlein (1855-1936), who provided a detailed description and illustration of this species (as Megaperca ischinagi, =S. gigas) in 1883
Stereolepis gigas Ayres 1859 large, “remarkable for the great size which it attains,” reaching at least 2.5 m and 255 kg
Family LATEOLABRACIDAE Asian Seaperches
Lateolabrax Bleeker 1855 presumed to be intermediate between Lates (Carangiformes: Latidae) and Labrax (=Dicentrarchus, Eupercaria: Moronidae)
Lateolabrax japonicus (Cuvier 1828) Japanese, described from the seas of Japan (occurs in northwestern Pacific from China to Korea and Japan, introduced in Australia)
Lateolabrax latus Katayama 1957 wide, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to deeper body and/or shorter, stouter caudal peduncle compared to L. japonicus
Lateolabrax lyiuy (Basilewsky 1855) from Ly-iuy, its local name in China, meaning “black fish” (said to be blackish in life)
Family GLAUCOSOMATIDAE Pearl Perches
Glaucosoma Temminck & Schlegel 1843 glaucos, hoary blue; soma, body, referring to nearly uniform bluish-gray body color of the species later named G. buergeri
Glaucosoma buergeri Richardson 1845 in honor of physician-biologist Heinrich Bürger (ca. 1804-1858), who collected and illustrated Japanese flora and fauna and provided drawing upon which description is based
Glaucosoma hebraicum Richardson 1845 Hebrew, referring to “Jewfish,” its common name in “colonial” Australia (now known as “dhufish”)
Glaucosoma magnificum (Ogilby 1915) magnificent, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to coloration: uniform reddish-brown body; many scales on upper surface of head lavender; cheeks and opercles lighter brown with a yellowish tinge; and three dark vertical bands, the first through eye, the second along edge of preopercle, and the third down to pectoral-fin base
Glaucosoma scapulare Ramsay 1881 of the shoulder, referring to scapular bone (pectoral girdle), “free, scaleless, covered with a black skin, rounded and crenulated towards the extremity, and very large”
Family PEMPHERIDAE Sweepers
2 genera · 85 species
Parapriacanthus Steindachner 1870 para-, near, allusion not explained, possibly referring to how young specimens resemble Priacanthus (Pricanthiformes: Priacanthidae)
Parapriacanthus argenteus (von Bonde 1923) silvery, “especially in anterior half of body and operculum; yellowish in posterior half”
Parapriacanthus darros Randall & Bogorodsky 2016 named for D’Arros Island, Seychelles, type locality
Parapriacanthus dispar (Herre 1935) dissimilar, allusion not explained nor evident
Parapriacanthus elongatus (McCulloch 1911) referring to “rather elongate” body compared to Pempheris affinis, P. compressa, P. klunzingeri, and P. multiradiata, its presumed Australian congeners at the time
Parapriacanthus guentheri (Klunzinger 1871) in honor of ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830-1914), British Museum (Natural History)
Parapriacanthus kwazulu Randall & Bogorodsky 2016 named for KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, type locality
Parapriacanthus marei Fourmanoir 1971 of Maré Island, Loyauté (Loyalty) Islands, New Caledonia, type locality (also occurs at Vanuatu and the Philippines)
Parapriacanthus punctulatus Randall & Bogorodsky 2016 dotted, referring to profusion of dark dots on sides below lateral line that extend well posterior to anal-fin origin (more evident on preserved specimens than in life)
Parapriacanthus rahah Randall & Bogorodsky 2016 named for Rahah Bay, Arabian Sea, Oman, type locality
Parapriacanthus ransonneti Steindachner 1870 in honor of Eugen von Ransonnet-Villez (1838-1926), Austrian diplomat, painter, lithographer, biologist and explorer, who secured type in Nagasaki, Japan
Parapriacanthus sharm Randall & Bogorodsky 2016 named for Sharm el Sheikh, a dive-resort city near the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, type locality (Sharm in Arabic means “narrow passage”; the city contains a narrow isthmus between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez)
Pempheris Cuvier 1829 a name given by Greek philosopher Numenius of Apamea (late 2nd century AD) to an unknown small fish, which Cuvier applied to this genus
Pempheris adspersa Griffin 1927 besprinkled, referring to body covered with “minute brown dots which require a lens to view them properly”
Pempheris adusta Bleeker 1877 brown or swarthy, presumably referring to blackish band along margin of anal fin, blackish margin on caudal fin, and/or dusky band on anal-fin base
Pempheris affinis McCulloch 1911 related, “very closely allied” to P. multiradiata but distinguished by its much smaller scales
Pempheris analis Waite 1910 pertaining to anal fin, “very nearly allied” to P. oualensis and P. otaitensis but “differing mainly in the constant smaller number” of anal-fin rays
Pempheris andilana Randall & Victor 2015 named for Andilana Beach, Nosy Be, northwestern Madagascar, type locality
Pempheris argyrea Randall & Victor 2015 silvery, referring to overall silvery coloration
Pempheris bexillon Mooi & Randall 2014 Greek for banner or flag, referring to bright-yellow and black dorsal fin
Pempheris bineeshi Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of K. K. Bineesh (b. 1981), ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) in Kochi, Kerala, for the “extensive” efforts he has made to collect, photograph, and DNA barcode species of Pempheris in India
Pempheris bruggemanni Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Henrich Bruggemann, Laboratoire d’Ecologie Marine, Université de la Réunion, who helped collect type and provided photographs
Pempheris compressa (Shaw 1790) provisionally identified by Shaw as a sparid but with a “much compressed” body
Pempheris connelli Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of marine biologist Allan D. Connell (1943-2016), whose “untiring efforts to document the fishes of KwaZulu-Natal have resulted in the discovery of many new species. He collected several of the recent lots of the types of this species, as well as numerous specimens, photographs, and tissue samples of other species of fishes from southern Africa.”
Pempheris convexa Randall & Victor 2014 arched outward, referring to strongly rounded dorsal profile of head
Pempheris cuprea Randall & Victor 2014 Latin for copper, referring to its coloration
Pempheris darvelli Randall & Victor 2014 in honor of Brian W. Darvell (b. 1948), chemist and marine conservationist, for his fieldwork in Oman, which resulted in specimens and photographs of this new species
Pempheris eatoni Randall & Victor 2014 in honor of Patrick Eaton, cousin of Allan D. Connell (see P. connelli), who collected holotype and five other adult specimens for the authors’ study, and for the “special effort to collect fish from the difficult exposed rocky shore of South Africa”
Pempheris ellipse Randall & Victor 2015 reference to longer vertical axis of orbit, giving eye an elliptical shape
Pempheris erythraea Kossmann & Räuber 1877 red, presumably referring to its occurrence in the Red Sea [also known as P. flavicycla marisrubri Randall, Bogorodsky & Alpermann 2014, a junior synonym]
Pempheris familia Koeda & Motomura 2017 family, referring to the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, many of which have family-like names (e.g., Chichi-jima, father island; Haha-jima, mother island; Ane-jima, older sister island); Ototo-jima, type locality, and Ani-jima, where underwater photographs were taken, refer to younger and older brothers, respectively
Pempheris flavicycla Randall, Satapoomin & Alpermann 2014 flavus, yellow; cycla, ring, referring to bright-yellow ring around pupil (often still apparent in recently preserved specimens)
Pempheris gasparinii Pinheiro, Bernardi & Rocha 2016 in honor of colleague and friend João Luiz Rosetti Gasparini, “one of the pioneers on the study of taxonomy and biodiversity of reef fishes in Brazil and Trindade Island,” who has “contributed to nearly half of the descriptions of reef-fish species from Brazilian waters in the last two decades”
Pempheris hadra Randall & Victor 2015 Greek for thick or stout, referring to its “unusual” stocky body
Pempheris heemstraorum Randall & Victor 2015 –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of ichthyologists Phillip C. (1941-2019) and Elaine Heemstra, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, for their “extensive” body of work in ichthyology; they collected and photographed type, along with providing many other specimens and photographs of western Indian Ocean fishes
Pempheris hollemani Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Wouter Holleman, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, for his “extensive” research on western Indian Ocean ichthyology; he provided data on this species from two type specimens when they could not be sent on loan
Pempheris ibo Randall & Victor 2015 named for Ibo Island, Mozambique, type locality (also occurs off South Africa)
Pempheris itoi Fowler 1931 in honor of Kumataro Ito, artist aboard U.S. Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross during the Philippine Expedition (1907-1910), for his many color sketches of Philippine-East Indian fishes
Pempheris japonica Döderlein 1883 Japanese, described from Tokyo, Japan (occurs in western Pacific from southern China and Taiwan to Philippines, north to Korea and southern Sea of Japan)
Pempheris klunzingeri McCulloch 1911 in honor of German physician and zoologist Carl Benjamin Klunzinger (1834-1914), who described this species as P. muelleri in 1880, preoccupied by P. muelleri Poey 1860 (=schomburgkii)
Pempheris kruppi Randall, Victor & Aideed 2015 in honor of Friedhelm (Fareed) Krupp, Curator of Fishes, Senckenberg Research Institute (Frankfort, Germany), now Director of the Qatar Natural History Museum (Doha), an “authority” on the fishes of the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and principal collector of the first series of type specimens of this species
Pempheris kuriamuria Randall & Victor 2015 named for the Kuriamuria Islands off the south coast of Oman, type locality
Pempheris leiolepis Randall & Victor 2015 leios, smooth; lepis, scale, referring to most of its body being covered with cycloid scales (only 2-3 ventral ctenoid scales adjacent to operculum)
Pempheris malabarica Cuvier 1831 –ica, belonging to: Malabar (i.e., southern India), type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from Oman and Pakistan east to Thailand and Cambodia)
Pempheris mangula Cuvier 1829 from Mangula Kutti, a local name for a sweeper (actually P. russellii) at Vizagapatam on the Coromandel Coast of India, as reported by Russell (1803)
Pempheris megalops Randall & Victor 2015 mega-, large; ops, eye, having the largest eyes of any species of the genus that the authors examined
Pempheris micromma Randall & Victor 2015 micro-, small; omma, eye, referring to type specimen with smallest known eye in the genus
Pempheris molucca Cuvier 1829 named for the Molucca Islands, Indonesia, type locality
Pempheris multiradiata Klunzinger 1879 multi-, many; radiatus, rayed, referring to more dorsal-fin rays than congeners known at the time
Pempheris muscat Randall & Victor 2015 named for the port city of Muscat, Oman, the only locality given for the first museum collection of this species
Pempheris nesogallica Cuvier 1831 –ica, belonging to: nesos, island; Gallia, France, i.e., Isle-de-France, now known as Mauritius, where type locality (Mascarene Islands) is situated (also occurs off Madagascar)
Pempheris nyctereutes Jordan & Evermann 1902 nycterus, night; ereutes, wanderer, allusion not explained, probably referring to nocturnal behavior of sweepers in general, seeking shelter under ledges or in caves, nooks and crannies during the day
Pempheris orbis Randall & Victor 2015 Latin for circle or ring, referring to bright copper ring around pupil of eye
Pempheris ornata Mooi & Jubb 1996 ornamented or ornate, referring to its “spectacular” coloration compared to congeners
Pempheris otaitensis Cuvier 1831 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Otaheite, now known as Tahiti, South Pacific, type locality
Pempheris oualensis Cuvier 1831 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Oulan (now known as Kosrae) Island, Society Islands, type locality (widely occurs elsewhere in Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific)
Pempheris pathirana Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Yohan Pathirana, Aquamarines International, an aquarium-fish breeder, trader and exporter in Sri Lanka, who provided specimens and photographs of sweepers; he also had his divers search for this species in Trincomalee, where it was collected in 1969 and 1970, but they failed to find it [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Pempheris peza Randall & Victor 2015 Greek for border, referring to very broad blackish border along entire outer edge of caudal fin
Pempheris poeyi Bean 1885 in honor of the “distinguished Cuban naturalist” Felipe Poey (1799-1891), who collected type and bottled it with P. muelleri (=schomburgkii), not realizing it was a distinct and undescribed species
Pempheris rapa Mooi 1998 named for Rapa Island, French Polynesia, South Pacific, where it is endemic
Pempheris rhomboidea Kossmann & Räuber 1877 rhomboidal, presumably referring to body shape
Pempheris rochai Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Luiz A. Rocha, Associate Curator of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences, for his “broad body of ichthyological research on the phylogenetics of reef fishes”
Pempheris rubricauda Randall & Victor 2015 ruber, red; cauda, tail, referring to bright red-orange coloration of broad central part of caudal fin
Pempheris russellii Day 1888 in honor of surgeon-herpetologist Patrick Russell (1726-1805), who described and illustrated but did not name this sweeper in 1803
Pempheris sarayu Randall & Bineesh 2014 in honor of the junior author’s wife [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]
Pempheris sasakii Jordan & Hubbs 1925 in honor of Madoka Sasaki, Professor of Marine Zoology, Imperial University of the Hokkaido (Sapporo), who provided specimens for the authors’ monograph on Japanese fishes
Pempheris schomburgkii Müller & Troschel 1848 in honor of explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865), in whose History of Barbados the description appeared; Schomburgk wrote: “Professor Dr. Muller and Dr. Troschel have had the goodness to describe this new species under the above specific name. While I recognise the kindness which dictated this distinction, I feel equally reluctant, as on a former occasion, to be the herald of the honour bestowed upon me.”
Pempheris schreineri Miranda Ribeiro 1915 in honor of Carlos Schreiner (1849-1896), German-born Brazilian ornithologist and collector, who discovered this species in a bottle labelled with the name “P. brasiliensis” [validity uncertain; perhaps synonymous with P. poeyi]
Pempheris schwenkii Bleeker 1855 in honor of H. Schwenk, an infantry major in the Dutch East Indian Army, who sent type to Bleeker
Pempheris sergey Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Russian ichthyologist Sergey V. Bogorodsky, who collected type, for his “extensive” research documenting the fishes of the Red Sea [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Pempheris shimoni Randall & Victor 2015 named for Shimoni, type locality, a small town in Kenya and a port near the border of Kenya and Tanzania
Pempheris shirleen Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Shirleen Smith, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, for the many loans of Pempheris and other fishes that she has prepared for the senior author [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]
Pempheris smithorum Randall & Victor 2015 –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of J. L. B. Smith (1897-1968) and Margaret Mary Smith (1916-1987), not only for being the collectors of the holotype (in 1952), but also for the major contributions they have made in pioneering ichthyology in South Africa, describing hundreds of species, and writing numerous publications on the fishes of southern Africa
Pempheris tau Randall & Victor 2015 named for the acronym of Tel-Aviv University, in appreciation of their large loan of Pempheris specimens from the Red Sea, including the largest specimen of this species
Pempheris ternay Randall & Victor 2015 named for Ternay Marine National Park, on the island of Mahé, Seychelles, type locality
Pempheris tilman Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Tilman J. Alpermann, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum (Frankfurt, Germany), for his studies on Red Sea fishes and his help with loans and collection data from the Museum [a noun in apposition, without, the patronymic “i”]
Pempheris tiran Randall & Victor 2015 named for the Strait of Tiran, Red Sea, type locality, between the tip of Sinai and Saudi Arabia
Pempheris tominagai Koeda, Yoshino & Tachihara 2014 in honor of the late Yoshiaki Tominaga, University of Tokyo, “pre-eminent” Japanese ichthyologist who contributed to the taxonomy and morphology of Pempheridae
Pempheris trinco Randall & Victor 2015 named for Trincomalee, Dutch Point, Sri Lanka (colloquially called “Trinco” by Sri Lankans), type locality
Pempheris ufuagari Koeda, Yoshino & Tachihara 2013 word in the traditional dialect of Okinawa, Japan, meaning “eastern end,” referring to Minami Daito Island, type locality, called “Ufuagari-jima” (jima=island) by the Okinawan people before 1885 when the Meiji government of Japan first landed there
Pempheris vanicolensis Cuvier 1831 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Vanikoro Island, Santa Cruz Islands, southwestern Pacific, type locality (widely occurs elsewhere in Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific)
Pempheris viridis Randall & Victor 2015 green, referring to its principal color
Pempheris wilsoni Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Keith D. P. Wilson (b. 1953), British hydrobiologist, environmentalist, conservationist, and expert on the dragonflies of China, who collected fishes in Oman for the authors’ studies on Pempheris and took photographs
Pempheris xanthomma Randall & Victor 2015 xanthos, yellow; omma, eye, referring to dominant color of iris in both living and preserved specimens
Pempheris xanthoptera Tominaga 1963 xanthos, yellow; ptera, finned, referring to yellow-to-vermillion vertical fins in life
Pempheris ypsilychnus Mooi & Jubb 1996 ypsilon, Greek letter Y; lynchos, Greek for lamp or light, referring to Y-shaped posterior organ visible through body wall, reported to be luminescent
Pempheris zajonzi Randall & Victor 2015 in honor of Uwe Zajonz (b. 1967), Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (Frankfurt, Germany), who helped collect type
Family BATHYCLUPEIDAE Deepwater Herrings
2 genera · 10 species
Bathyclupea Alcock 1891 bathys, deep; clupea, herring, presumed to be the first clupeoid (Clupeiformes) reported from the deep sea
Bathyclupea hoskynii Alcock 1891 in honor of Richard Frazer Hoskyn (1848-1892), British naval officer and Commander of HMS Investigator, from which type was collected
Bathyclupea nikparini Prokofiev 2014 in honor of Nikolai Vasil’evich Parin (1932-2012), Russian Academy of Sciences, a “leading Russian ichthyologist and a wonderful person” (translation)
Bathyclupea schroederi Dick 1962 in honor of William C. Schroeder (1895-1977), Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, who collected holotype and several paratypes; his “many publications, the collecting he has done, and his work in the department have greatly enriched the field of ichthyology”
Neobathyclupea Prokofiev 2014 neo, new, i.e., a new genus of Bathyclupea
Neobathyclupea argentea (Goode & Bean 1896) “glittering like silver” per Goode & Bean, referring to “yellowish silvery” color
Neobathyclupea elongata (Trunov 1975) elongate, referring to body shape, its “most representative character” (translation)
Neobathyclupea gracilis (Fowler 1938) slender, referring to more slender body compared to N. megaceps, described in the same publication
Neobathyclupea japanotaiwana (Prokofiev 2014) –ana, belonging to: referring to occurrence off the coasts of both Japan and Taiwan
Neobathyclupea malayana (Weber 1913) –ana, belonging to: etymology not explained, presumably referring to its occurrence in the Malay Archipelago
Neobathyclupea megaceps (Fowler 1938) mega-, great; ceps, head, referring to its “very large head”
Neobathyclupea melanoptera Prokofiev, Gon & Psomadakis 2016 melanos, black; pterus, fin, referring to its “jet black” fins
Family PENTACEROTIDAE Armorheads
7 genera · 13 species
Subfamily HISTIOPTERINAE Sailfin Armorheads
Evistias Jordan 1907 ev-, latinization of eu-, well; histion, sail, referring to tall and sail-like dorsal fin
Evistias acutirostris (Temminck & Schlegel 1844) acutus, sharp; rostris, snout, referring to elongated snout
Histiopterus Temminck & Schlegel 1844 histion, sail; pterus, fin, referring to sail-like dorsal fin of adults
Histiopterus typus Temminck & Schlegel 1844 serving as type of genus
Parazanclistius Hardy 1983 para-, near, superficially resembling Zanclistius but having pelvic-fin base anterior to pectoral-fin base and well-developed scales on opercle and subopercle
Parazanclistius hutchinsi Hardy 1983 in honor of J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), Western Australian Museum, for his contributions to the knowledge of Western Australian marine fishes, and his helpfulness in making available to Hardy “considerable amounts of study material from time to time”
Paristiopterus Bleeker 1876 para-, near and Histiopterus, replacement name for Richardsonia Castelnau 1872 (preoccupied in fishes); Castelnau said R. insignis (=P. labiosus) was “almost exactly similar” to Histiopterus in body form
Paristiopterus gallipavo Whitley 1944 gallus, chicken; pavo, peacock, i.e., turkey, allusion not explained nor evident
Paristiopterus labiosus (Günther 1872) large-lipped, presumably referring to thick lips densely covered with short papillae
Pentaceropsis Steindachner 1883 opsis, appearance, referring to its Pentaceros-like appearance
Pentaceropsis recurvirostris (Richardson 1845) recurvus, curved upwards; rostris, snout, presumably referring to “elongated and concave muzzle”
Zanclistius Jordan 1907 zanklon, Greek for sickle; histion, sail, referring to sickle-shaped dorsal fin
Zanclistius elevatus (Ramsay & Ogilby 1888) raised, allusion not explained, presumably referring to high, sickle-shaped dorsal fin
Subfamily PENTACEROTINAE
Pentaceros Cuvier 1829 penta-, five; keras, horn, referring to five horn-like projections on head of P. capensis
Pentaceros capensis Cuvier 1829 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, type locality (occurs in southeastern Atlantic and western Indian Oceans from South Africa to Madagascar and Réunion Island)
Pentaceros decacanthus Günther 1859 deca-, ten; acanthus, thorn or spine, referring to 10 dorsal-fin spines (compared to 12 on P. capensis and 14 on P. richardsoni)
Pentaceros japonicus Steindachner 1883 Japanese, described from Tokyo, Japan, and occurring in Pacific Ocean from Ryukyu Islands north to southern Japan, east to Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands and Hawaiian Ridge (also occurs at Chesterfield Islands and Nazca and Sala-y-Gomez ridges)
Pentaceros quinquespinis Parin & Kotlyar 1988 quinque, five; spinus, spine, referring to five anal-fin spines
Pentaceros richardsoni Smith 1844 patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of surgeon-naturalist John Richardson (1787-1865)
Pentaceros wheeleri (Hardy 1983) in honor of Alwyne C. Wheeler (1929-2005), Curator of Fishes at the British Museum (Natural History), for loans of material and for his “willingness to provide detailed information concerning the specimens in his care”
Family OSTRACOBERYCIDAE Shellskin Alfonsinos
Ostracoberyx Fowler 1934 ostrakon, shell, referring to largely bony head; Beryx, classified in Berycoidei (now suborder of Beryciformes) at the time (hence the common name “alfonsino”)
Ostracoberyx dorygenys Fowler 1934 dory, spear or lance; genys, cheek, referring to long preopercular spine
Ostracoberyx fowleri Matsubara 1939 in honor of Henry Weed Fowler (1878-1965), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who proposed the genus in 1934
Ostracoberyx paxtoni Quéro & Ozouf-Costaz 1991 in honor of John R. Paxton (b. 1938), Australian Museum (Sydney), who provided type specimens
Family BANJOSIDAE Banjofishes
Banjos Bleeker 1876 tautonymous with Anoplus banjos Richardson 1846
Banjos aculeatus Matsunuma & Motomura 2017 spiny, referring to strongly serrated spine at angle of preopercle
Banjos banjos banjos (Richardson 1846) etymology not explained; presumably a Japanese vernacular for this species dating to “Der Banjos,” as illustrated in Tilesius’ Atlas zur Reise um die Welt (1814); Jordan & Thompson (1912) report that the name is derived from banzai, the traditional Japanese exclamation meaning “ten thousand years” of long life, and Jordan & Hubbs (1925) report that its Japanese vernacular is Banzai-dai, which translates as the Hurrah Porgy
Banjos banjos brevispinis Matsunuma & Motomura 2017 brevis, short; spinis, spine, referring to relatively short dorsal-fin spines compared to B. b. banjos
Banjos peregrinus Matsunuma & Motomura 2017 strange, referring to its “unusual overall appearance” compared with congeners, particularly its large head and orbit
Family DINOLESTIDAE Long-finned Pike
Dinolestes Klunzinger 1842 dino-, fearfully great (as in dinosaur); lestes, plunderer or pirate, allusion not explained, possibly referring to its “quite wide” mouth with “strong” teeth (translation)
Dinolestes lewini (Griffith & Smith 1834) in honor of “Mr. Lewin,” who illustrated the plates in Griffith & Smith’s book, including the plate on which this species is based, probably John Lewin (1770-1819), who illustrated early volumes of Australian natural history