COMMENTS
v. 1.0 – 18 July 2021 view/download PDF
Family HEXAGRAMMIDAE Greenlings
4 genera · 10 species
Subfamily HEXAGRAMMINAE Greenlings
Hexagrammos Tilesius 1810 hexa, six; grammos, line, referring to multiple lateral-line canals, the fifth or ventral-most canal divided, thus producing a total of six
Hexagrammos agrammus (Temminck & Schlegel 1843) a-, not or without; grammus, line, an apparent misnomer, referring to single (but not absent) lateral line compared to multiple lateral-line canals on congeners
Hexagrammos decagrammus (Pallas 1810) deca, ten; grammus, line, referring to five lateral-line canals per side, for a total of ten
Hexagrammos lagocephalus (Pallas 1810) lagos, hare; cephalus, head, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to bluntly rounded snout, resembling nose of a rabbit
Hexagrammos octogrammus (Pallas 1814) octo, eight; grammus, line, referring to four lateral-line canals per side, for a total of eight
Hexagrammos otakii Jordan & Starks 1895 in honor of Keinosuke Otaki (d. 1911), Professor of English at the Imperial Military Academy of Tokyo and a former zoology student at Stanford University (where Jordan was president), who collected type series during his tenure with the Fish Commission of Japan
Hexagrammos stelleri Tilesius 1810 in honor of Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746), German physician-naturalist who worked in Russia and explored the Kamchatka Peninsula (type locality), and who proposed the genus Chirus for greenling in an unpublished manuscript
Subfamily PLEUROGRAMMINAE Atka Mackerels
Pleurogrammus Gill 1861 pleuro-, side; grammus, line, referring to five lateral-line canals per side
Pleurogrammus azonus Jordan & Metz 1913 a-, not or without; zonus, band, referring to absence of dark crossbars on body compared with the similar but banded P. monopterygius
Pleurogrammus monopterygius (Pallas 1810) mono-, one; pterygius, fin, referring to single, continuous dorsal fin, compared with two dorsal fins of Hexagrammos
Subfamily OPHIODONTINAE Lingcod
Ophiodon Girard 1854 ophis, snake; odon, tooth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to large, snake-like canine teeth (per Pietsch & Orr, Fishes of the Salish Sea, 2019)
Ophiodon elongatus Girard 1854 elongate, probably referring to “more elongated” head compared with Chirus (=Hexagrammos) and/or “small, elongated” scales
Subfamily OXYLEBIINAE Painted Greenling
Oxylebius Gill 1862 oxys, sharp, referring to more pointed snout compared with Zaniolepis (Zaniolepidoales: Zaniolepididae); Lebius, etymology not explained, but according to Jordan & Evermann (1898) an old synonym of Hexagrammos from an ancient Greek word meaning “a small fish suitable to be cooked in a kettle”
Oxylebius pictus Gill 1862 painted, referring to 5-7 undulating, vertical, dark-purple bands (red to reddish-brown in life) on body extending to dorsal and anal fins