Family ATELOMYCTERIDAE White 1936 (Colored Catsharks)

Updated 27 Jan. 2023
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Subfamily ATELOMYCTERINAE White 1936

Atelomycterus Garman 1913 atelḗs (Gr. ἀτελής), without end (i.e., incomplete, imperfect); mycterus, from myktḗr (Gr. μυκτήρ), nostril, referring to lack of posterior nasal valve

Atelomycterus baliensis White, Last & Dharmadi 2005ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bali, Indonesia, only known area of occurrence

Atelomycterus erdmanni Fahmi & White 2015 in honor of marine biologist Mark V. Erdmann (b. 1968), who discovered and collected the type specimens

Atelomycterus fasciatus Compagno & Stevens 1993 Latin for banded, referring to slender, brown saddles on a white background

Atelomycterus macleayi Whitley 1939 patronym not identified, probably in honor of William Macleay (1820–1891), Scottish-Australian politician and naturalist, who published many papers on the fishes of Australia

Atelomycterus marmoratus (Anonymous [Bennett] 1830) Latin for marbled, referring to white blotches over large black spots and bars

Atelomycterus marnkalha Jacobsen & Bennett 2007 indigenous Australian (Rrumburriya clan) word for regional catshark species in Yanyuwa country, where one of the first specimens was recorded

Aulohalaelurus Fowler 1934 aulós (Gr. αὐλός), groove, being a form of Halaelurus (now in Pentanchidae) with “conspicuous labial folds”

Aulohalaelurus kanakorum Séret 1990orum (L.), commemorative suffix, plural: dedicated to the Kanak, Melanesian people of New Caledonia, where this shark is endemic

Aulohalaelurus labiosus (Waite 1905) Latin for large-lipped, referring to its prominent labial folds or furrows


Subfamily SCHROEDERICHTHYINAE Compagno 1988

Schroederichthys Springer 1966 in honor of American ichthyologist William C. Schroeder (1895–1977), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, for his pioneering work (with Henry B. Bigelow) on cartilaginous fishes; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Schroederichthys bivius (Müller & Henle 1838) bi-, from bis (L.), two; via (L.), way or passage, etymology not explained, perhaps referring to double-valved nostrils, with incurrent and excurrent apertures

Schroederichthys chilensis (Guichenot 1848)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chile, described from the Pacific of Chile (and Peru)

Schroederichthys maculatus Springer 1966 Latin for spotted, referring to randomly distributed yellowish or white spots on dorsal surface

Schroederichthys saurisqualus Soto 2001 sauros, from saúra (Gr. σαύρα), lizard; squalus (L.), dirty or filthy (i.e., squalid), and an ancient Latin name for marine fishes considered unfit for human consumption, including sharks; based on the vernacular “lizard catshark,” presumably referring to its slender, lizard-like body and long tail

Schroederichthys tenuis Springer 1966 Latin for thin, referring to its slender body