Revised 9 Dec. 2025
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Cleidopus De Vis 1882 cleido-, combining form of kleís (κλείς), key or latch; poús (πούς), foot (homologous to the ventral fins), referring to how its ventral-fin spine can lock into place

Cleidopus gloriamaris De Vis 1882 gloria (L.), glory; maris, genitive of mare (L.), sea, i.e., Glory of the Sea, allusion not explained, perhaps echoing Houttuyn (1782), who described the similar Monocentris japonica and called it the “most remarkable fish that exists” (translation)

Monocentris Bloch & Schneider 1801 mono-, from mónos (μόνος), one or single; centris, from kéntron (κέντρον), any sharp point, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to ventral fin, which consists of a single very strong rough spine

Monocentris chrysadamas Su, Lin & Ho 2022 chrysós (χρυσός), gold or golden; adamas (L.), adamant, an archaic form of diamond, referring to yellowish body color in life and diamond-shaped scales; also, the meaning of these two words in Chinese refers to a famous agricultural variety of pineapple in Taiwan (type locality), which this fish resembles

Monocentris japonica (Houttuyn 1782) -ica (L.), belonging to: described from off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan

Monocentris neozelanica (Powell 1938) -ica (L.), belonging to: described from off the coast of New Zealand

Monocentris reedi Schultz 1956 in honor of Anglo-Chilean physician Edwyn P. Reed (1880–1966), Chief of the biological department, Dirección General de Pesca y Gaza (Valparaiso, Chile), who secured holotype and sent it to Schultz for identification