COMMENTS
v. 5.0 – 30 Nov. 2023 view/download PDF
Family ICOSTEIDAE Ragfish
Icosteus Lockington 1880 ictico-, yielding or pliable; osteus, bone, “Entire body characterized by a lack of firmness, as it can be doubled up as readily as a piece of soft, thick rag” (hence the name “Ragfish”); Lockington examined two specimens, both with a different head shape, “doubtless owing to the flexibility of the bones” (which are largely cartilaginous)
Icosteus aenigmaticus Lockington 1880 puzzling, allusion not explained but probably referring to its unusual flexibility and/or its uncertain phylogenetic position at the time; Lockington classified it as a blenny (Blenniidae) but noted, “It can, however, hardly be referring to any of the current families, and should perhaps form the type of a separate one” (which it ultimately did)
Family SCOMBROLABRACIDAE Longfin Escolar
Scombrolabrax Roule 1921 combination of Scomber (mackerel) and Labrax (ancient Greek word for seabass), presenting characters of both Scombriformes (e.g., first dorsal fin comprising a series of spines) and Perciformes (e.g., spiny and denticulate preopercle)
Scombrolabrax heterolepis Roule 1921 hetero-, different; lepis, scale, referring to irregular size and shape of scales, arranged without any apparent order
Family GEMPYLIDAE Snake Mackerels
16 genera · 25 species
Diplospinus Maul 1948 diplo-, twofold; spinus, spine, referring to two spines before anal fin
Diplospinus multistriatus Maul 1948 multi-, many; striatus, striped, referring to ~50 very fine longitudinal lines along sides
Epinnula Poey 1854 e-, without; pinnula, finlet (or spinule), similar to Thyrsites and Gempylus but lacking dorsal and anal finlets
Epinnula magistralis Poey 1854 master, i.e., schoolmaster, referring to resemblance to the Escolar (scholar), Ruvettus pretiosus (Poey also coined its common name in Cuba, Dómine, also meaning master) [the common name Escolar originates from the common name of similarly oily Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (see below); several online sources say “escolar” refers to the ring around its eyes, like the spectacles of a scholar; Jordan (1907) claims the name means “to scour,” referring to its very rough scales]
Epinnula rex Ho, Motomura, Hata & Chiang 2022 Latin for king, an “homage” to E. magistralis, whose name means “master” in Latin [replacement name for E. pacifica Ho, Motomura, Hata & Jiang [corrected to Chiang] 2017, preoccupied by E. pinnula orientalis pacifica Grey 1953]
Gempylus Cuvier 1829 ancient name for a mackerel-like fish that Cuvier applied to G. serpens
Gempylus serpens Cuvier 1829 snake, referring to its slender, snake-like shape
Leionura Whitley 1951 a nomen nudum dating to Bleeker 1859, coined by Kuhl and van Hasselt in an unpublished manuscript, later made available by Whitley; etymology not explained, probably leios, smooth and oura, tail, referring to lack of keels on caudal peduncle, compared to prominent keels on Scomber (original genus of L. atun) and other scombrid fishes
Leionura atun (Euphrasen 1791) from atún, Spanish for tuna and Spanish name for this species dating to at least Löfling’s Iter hispanicum (1758) [historically placed in Thyrsites Cuvier 1832, preoccupied by Thyrsites Lesson 1831, subsequently replaced by Leionura]
Lepidocybium Gill 1862 lepidus, scaled, allusion not explained, presumably referring to small, delicate scales covering body; Cybium, from the Greek kybion, meaning tunny (now a junior synonym of Scomberomorus [Scombridae], original genus of L. flavobrunneum)
Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith 1843) flavus, yellow; brunneum, brown, referring to body color, described as “intermediate between light chestnut-brown and yellowish brown” (modern accounts say color is uniformly dark brown, becoming almost black with age)
Nealotus Johnson 1865 newly caught, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to type specimen being captured in December 1864 (description published May 1865)
Nealotus tripes Johnson 1865 tri-, three; pes, feet, i.e., three-footed, allusion not explained, presumably referring to two ventral fins (both consisting of a single spine) and a dagger-shaped spine between vent and anal fin, which together can be said to form a kind of tripod (per Jordan & Evermann 1896)
Neoepinnula Matsubara & Iwai 1952 neo-, new, i.e., a new genus related to, and previously referred to as, Epinnula
Neoepinnula americana (Grey 1953) American, proposed as a western Atlantic subspecies of the Indo-West Pacific N. orientalis
Neoepinnula minetomai Nakayama, Kimura & Endo 2014 in honor of Takeshi Minetoma, a local fisherman in Kuchierabu-jima Island, Kagoshima, Japan, who “variously supports the second author’s field works in the island”
Neoepinnula orientalis (Gilchrist & von Bonde 1924) eastern, proposed as an Indo-West Pacific congener of the western Atlantic Epinnula magistralis
Nesiarchus Johnson 1862 etymology not explained, perhaps nesos, island, referring to Madeira (type locality of N. nasutus; 1862 was the year when Johnson started to describe fishes from Madeira, so he may have been intrigued by the island and its fish diversity [R. Fricke, pers. comm.]; archos, chief or leader, i.e., the “island chief” of Madeira, continuing a tradition of naming gemplyids after “escolars” or “masters,” e.g., Epinnula magistralis (another interpretation is archos, anus, referring to dagger-like spine in front of anus, which Johnson singled out as an important diagnostic character)
Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson 1862 long-nosed, referring to long snout, “terminated by a large conical cartilaginous process, which projects much beyond the jaw”
Paradiplospinus Andriashev 1960 para-, near, similar to Diplospinus multistriatus but differing in simple (not barbed) teeth, absence of ventral fins, greater number of vertebrae, and peculiar slit-like incision on outer border of interorbital space
Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev 1960 –icus, belonging to: the Antarctic, where type locality (Banzare coast, Wilkes Land) is situated (but occurs north to Uruguay)
Paradiplospinus gracilis (Brauer 1906) slender, allusion not explained, probably referring to its slender shape, body depth contained 12-16 times in SL
Promethichthys Gill 1893 replacement name for Prometheus Lowe 1841 (tautonymous with Gemplyus prometheus), preoccupied by Prometheus Hübner 1824 in Lepidoptera; ichthys, fish
Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier 1832) manuscript name proposed by Quoy & Gaimard, etymology not explained but almost certainly referring not to the Greek god Prometheus, but to the Greek adjective for which he was named: promethes, cautious or wary; according to Jordan & Evermann (1896), this fish is known as “coehlo” or “rabbit” among the Portuguese, because it is a “very wary fish, its name of rabbit fish being due to its habit of snapping off bait”
Rexea Waite 1911 royal, allusion not explained, perhaps continuing a tradition of naming gemplyids after “escolars” or “masters,” e.g., Epinnula magistralis and possibly Nesiarchus
Rexea alisae Roberts & Stewart 1997 of Alis, ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer) research vessel based in Nouméa, New Caledonia, responsible for capture of type specimens “together with many other new and rare marine taxa”
Rexea antefurcata Parin 1989 ante-, before; furcata, forked, referring to forwardly displaced fork of lateral line
Rexea bengalensis (Alcock 1894) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bay of Bengal, off Madras, India, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from East Africa and Madagascar east to Philippines and New Guinea, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia)
Rexea brevilineata Parin 1989 brevis, short; lineata, lined, referring to shorter upper branch of lateral line compared to congeners
Rexea nakamurai Parin 1989 in honor of Izumi Nakamura, Kyoto University (Japan), “one of the great experts” (translation) on cutlassfishes (Trichiuridae)
Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker 1856) –oides, having the form of: referring to previous misidentification as Thyrsites (now Promethichthys) prometheus
Rexea solandri (Cuvier 1832) in honor of Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander (1733-1782), who described this species as “Scomber macrophthalmus” in an unpublished manuscript
Rexichthys Parin & Astakhov 1987 Rexea, similar to that genus; ichthys, fish
Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov 1987 in honor of ichthyologist John R. Paxton (b. 1938), Australian Museum (Sydney), who made it possible for the authors to examine specimens at his museum
Ruvettus Cocco 1833 latinization of Roveto or Ruvetto, its common name in Italy
Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco 1833 precious, a “delight of the tables” with “tender and very delicate flesh” (translation), seldom caught by fishermen (per Cocco 1834), presumably because of its occurrence in deeper waters (actually, the flesh is very oily, consisting of wax esters, which serve as a laxative if too much is consumed)
Thyrsites Lesson 1831 ancient name for mackerel-like fishes, first applied to this genus by Cuvier (1829), presumably from thrys, stalk or wand and –ites, likeness, perhaps referring to their long, fusiform bodies
Thyrsites lepidopodea Lesson 1831 –ea, adjectival suffix, i.e., similar to Lepidopus (Trichiuridae); per Cuvier 1832, both genera have six enlarged teeth on the upper jaw, the first three on each side, with a small hook near their point, ending in a “half-arrow” (translation) [often placed in Thyrsitops Gill 1862, which is a junior synonym when Scomber atun is correctly placed in Leionura; in addition, authorship and spelling sometimes known as Thyrsites lepidopoides Cuvier 1832, but Lesson’s name, based on Cuvier’s manuscript, has priority]
Thyrsitoides Fowler 1929 –oides, having the form of: similar to Thyrsites but different in having two lateral lines that unite anteriorly on side of body
Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler 1929 in honor of Natal fisheries officer Harold Walter Bell-Marley (1872-1945), who collected many South African fishes for Fowler, including type of this one
Tongaichthys Nakamura & Fujii 1983 Tonga, named for Tonga Ridge, southern Pacific, type locality of T. robustus; ichthys, fish
Tongaichthys robustus Nakamura & Fujii 1983 robust, referring to its “semifusiform and robust body”
Family TRICHIURIDAE Cutlassfishes
10 genera · 47 species
Subfamily APHANOPIDINAE
Aphanopus Lowe 1839 etymology not explained, perhaps aphanes, hidden or obscure, and opus, foot, referring to ventral fins of A. carbo, of which there are “No trace or figment”
Aphanopus arigato Parin 1994 Japanese for “thank you,” expressing Parin’s “deep gratitude” (translation) to Japanese ichthyologists Tokiharu Abe, Kunio Amaoka, Masaki Miya, Izumi Nakamura, Osamu Okamura, Teruya Uyeno, and others, for hospitality and assistance during his visit to Japanese scientific institutions in October-December 1992
Aphanopus beckeri Parin 1994 in honor of ichthyologist Vladimir Eduardovich Becker (1925-1995), Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Aphanopus capricornis Parin 1994 –is, genitive singular of: Tropic of Capricorn, near where this species occurs in the southwest Pacific
Aphanopus carbo Lowe 1839 Latin for charcoal or coal, referring to its “dark coffee colour, approaching to black”
Aphanopus intermedius Parin 1983 intermediate in number of vertebrae and fin rays between, and distributed between the geographic ranges of, A. carbo and A. mikhailini
Aphanopus microphthalmus Norman 1939 micro-, small; ophthalmus, eye, referring to “distinctly” smaller eye compared to A. carbo
Aphanopus mikhailini Parin 1983 in honor of colleague Sergei Vlaidimirov Mikhaylin (1943-1981), who “died tragically [saving people from a burning train] at the height of his career” (translation), for his contributions to the study of trichiuroid fishes, dealing with many aspects of their systematics, geographical variability, distribution, and ecology
Benthodesmus Goode & Bean 1882 benthos, deep, referring to deep-sea habitat; desmus, band, presumably referring to “much compressed, attenuate” body of B. elongatus
Benthodesmus elongatus (Clarke 1879) elongate, referring to “long, narrow, and compressed” body
Benthodesmus macrophthalmus Parin & Becker 1970 macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, referring to larger eye compared to congeners
Benthodesmus neglectus Parin 1976 overlooked, referring to the fact that Parin reported this species as B. macrophthalmus in an earlier (1970) publication
Benthodesmus oligoradiatus Parin & Becker 1970 oligos, few; radiatus, rayed, referring to fewer dorsal- and anal-fin rays compared to congeners
Benthodesmus pacificus Parin & Becker 1970 proposed as a North Pacific (Japan, British Columbia) subspecies of the southern hemisphere B. elongatus
Benthodesmus papua Parin 1978 named for Papua New Guinea, referring to type locality off that country’s southeastern coast in the Coral Sea
Benthodesmus simonyi (Steindachner 1891) in honor of Oskar Simony (1852-1915), Austrian mathematician, physicist and naturalist, who collected type while in the Canary Islands (1888) collecting plants [biographical footnote: after being semi-paralyzed by a stroke, he committed suicide by throwing himself out of the second-story window of his Vienna apartment]
Benthodesmus suluensis Parin 1976 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Sulu Sea, western tropical Pacific, type locality
Benthodesmus tenuis (Günther 1877) thin, referring to the “extraordinary slenderness” of its body
Benthodesmus tuckeri Parin & Becker 1970 in honor of ichthyologist Denys W. Tucker (1921-2009), Natural History Museum (London), who had reviewed the genus in the 1950s [biographical footnote: Tucker was fired from the Museum after claiming to have seen the Loch Ness Monster in 1959; he never held an academic post again]
Benthodesmus vityazi Parin & Becker 1970 in honor of the research vessel Vityaz (also spelled Vitiaz), from which type was collected
Subfamily LEPIDOPODINAE
Assurger Whitley 1933 etymology not explained, perhaps derived from assurgens, ascending or rising, referring to type specimen of A. anzac, found on a beach after presumably rising from the depths (usually occurs at 150-400 m)
Assurger anzac (Alexander 1917) named for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) of the First World War, active 1914-1916, a name “specially suitable for a fish found in Australian waters and nearly related to the famous Frost-fish (Lepidopus caudatus) so well known in New Zealand”
Eupleurogrammus Gill 1862 eu-, good or well, i.e., very; pleuro, side; grammus, line, etymology not explained, perhaps referring to long lateral line of E. muticus, running almost straight along or just below middle of body
Eupleurogrammus glossodon (Bleeker 1860) glossa, tongue; odontos, tooth, referring to its toothed tongue, unique among its presumed congeners in Trichiurus
Eupleurogrammus muticus (Gray 1831) unarmed, presumably referring to lack of ventral spines compared to Trichiurus armatus (=Lepturacanthus savala), described in same publication
Evoxymetopon Gill 1863 ev-, latinization (for euphony) of the Greek prefix eu-, good or well, i.e., very; oxy, sharp; metopon, forehead, referring to upper profile of E. taeniatus abruptly descending toward end of snout, with “trenchant and elevated” forehead
Evoxymetopon macrophthalmus Chakraborty, Yoshino & Iwatsuki 2006 macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, referring to large eye, 4.5 times in head length
Evoxymetopon moricheni Fricke, Golani & Appelbaum-Golani 2014 in honor of Mordechai (“Mori”) Chen, who found holotype drifting dead while snorkeling in the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, in Israel; at first he imagined the long, shiny object to be a strip of metal
Evoxymetopon poeyi Günther 1887 in honor of Cuban ichthyologist Felipe Poey (1799-1891), who apparently coined the name “Evoxymetopon” when he sent a specimen to Theodore Gill at the Smithsonian; although Gill credits Poey as the author of the genus, Gill made the name available and is considered the author
Evoxymetopon taeniatus Gill 1863 banded, referring to ~6 narrow, reddish, longitudinal bands running along length of body
Lepidopus Goüan 1770 lepis, scale; pous, foot, body scaleless except for one scale-like spine on pelvic (ventral) fins (perhaps one on anal fin also)
Lepidopus altifrons Parin & Collette 1993 altus, high; frons, forehead, referring to convex and highly elevated interorbit, more so than that of L. dubius, the only other congener with a convex interorbit
Lepidopus calcar Parin & Mikhailin 1982 Latin for spur, referring to stout spur-like second anal spine
Lepidopus caudatus (Euphrasen 1788) tailed, referring to caudal fin, which is forked rather than tapering to a hair-like extension
Lepidopus dubius Parin & Mikhailin 1981 doubtful, reflecting its provisional (at the time) placement in Lepidopus
Lepidopus fitchi Rosenblatt & Wilson 1987 in honor of the late John E. Fitch (1918-1982), marine and fisheries biologist, California Department of Fish and Game, an “indefatigable student of California fishes” (such as this one, which occurs in the eastern Pacific from Oregon to the Gulf of California)
Lepidopus manis Rosenblatt & Wilson 1987 Latin for ghost or soul of the departed, referring to “ghost-like appearance” of its large eyes
Subfamily TRICHURINAE Hairtails
Demissolinea Burhanuddin & Iwatsuki 2003 demissus, lower; linea, line, referring to lower position of lateral line on body compared to Eupleurogrammus, Lepturacanthus, Tentoriceps and Trichiurus
Demissolinea novaeguineensis Burhanuddin & Iwatsuki 2003 –ensis, suffix denoting place: novae, new, referring to New Guinea, where type locality (Dolak Island) is situated
Lepturacanthus Fowler 1905 leptos, slender, presumably referring to strongly compressed body; oura, tail and acanthus, thorn, presumably referring to anal spines of L. savala, one of which is enlarged while the others are small and less distinct
Lepturacanthus pantului (Gupta 1966) in honor of V. R. Pantulu, Central Inland Fisheries Research Station, Calcutta, India, and previously a fisheries scientist in West Bengal (type locality); Gupta thanked Pantulu for his “guidance” and for “offering helpful suggestions” on his manuscript
Lepturacanthus roelandti (Bleeker 1860) in honor of military pharmacist J. W. Roelandt in the Dutch East Indies, who supplied fishes to Bleeker, including type of this one
Lepturacanthus savala (Cuvier 1829) name for this species as reported by Patrick Russell (see Trichiurus russelli, below), derived from na-savallé, its local name in Pondicherry, India (per Cuvier & Valenciennes 1832)
Tentoriceps Whitley 1948 etymology not explained, perhaps tentorium, tent or tent-like; ceps, head, presumably referring in some way to leaf-like crest on head (see T. cristatus)
Tentoriceps cristatus (Klunzinger 1884) crested, referring to a high, leaf-like, curved crest from dorsal origin over interorbital and snout
Trichiurus Linnaeus 1758 trichos, hair; oura, tail, referring to awl-shaped and finless (“subulata, aptera”) tail (posterior body tapering to a point)
Trichiurus auriga Klunzinger 1884 coachman’s whip, referring to long, whip-like tail (posterior body tapering to a point)
Trichiurus australis Chakraborty, Burhanuddin & Iwatsuki 2005 southern, referring to its occurrence off Queensland, Australia
Trichiurus brevis Wang & You 1992 short, etymology not explained, possibly referring to its length, described at 545 mm TL
Trichiurus gangeticus Gupta 1966 –icus, belonging to: etymology not explained, presumably referring to Ganges Delta of India, where type locality (Frasergunj, 24-Parganas District, West Bengal, Indian Ocean) is situated
Trichiurus japonicus Temminck & Schlegel 1844 Japanese, proposed as a subspecies of T. lepturus from Japan (also occurs off China and Taiwan)
Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus 1758 leptos, thin; oura, tailed, referring to awl-shaped and finless (“subulata, aptera”) tail (posterior body tapering to a point)
Trichiurus margarites Li 1992 Greek for pearl, referring to “stone-like nucleus” on “skull and body” (presumably the supraoccipital, which bears a “hard knob” that looks like a pearl); the people of Minnan, Fujian, China, call this species the “pearled hairtail” to distinguish it from T. japonicus, which lacks the “stone”
Trichiurus nanhaiensis Wang & Xu 1992 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Nanhai, Chinese name for South China Sea, type locality
Trichiurus nickolensis Burhanuddin & Iwatsuki 2003 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Nickole Bay, Western Australia, type locality
Trichiurus nitens Garman 1899 shining, referring to its “brilliant silvery” sides
Trichiurus russelli Dutt & Thankam 1967 in honor of surgeon-herpetologist Patrick Russell (1726-1805), who recorded over 200 fish species from Visakhapatnam, India (where this species was captured)
Family SCOMBRIDAE Mackerels and Tuna
17 genera/subgenera · 57 species/subspecies
Subfamily GASTEROCHISMATINAE Butterfly Kingfish
Gasterochisma Richardson 1845 gaster, belly; [s]chisma, slot, split or cleft, referring to deep grooves or fissures on belly into which ventral fins can tuck and be concealed (second part of name does not derive from chiasma, meaning cross- or x-shaped, as reported elsewhere)
Gasterochisma melampus Richardson 1845 melam-, black; pous, foot, referring to blackish ventral fins
Subfamily SCOMBRINAE Mackerels, Bonitos and Tunas
Acanthocybium Gill 1862 acanthus, spine, presumably referring to more spines on first dorsal fin (23-27) compared to Cybium (=Scomberomorus, 12-22) and Lepidocybium (Gempylidae, 8-9); Cybium, from the Greek kybion, meaning tunny, original genus of A. solandri
Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier 1832) in honor of Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander (1733-1782), whose notes and illustration provided the descriptive material for Cuvier
Allothunnus Serventy 1948 allos, other; thunnus, tuna, i.e., another kind of tuna
Allothunnus fallai Serventy 1948 in honor of ornithologist Robert Alexander Falla (1901-1979), Director of the Canterbury Museum (Christchurch, New Zealand), who told Serventy about a bonito-like fish in the Museum’s collection and, in 1942, sent him a specimen that eventually became the type
Auxis Cuvier 1829 ancient name for scombrid fishes, sometimes used to designate a young tunny, perhaps derived from auxo, grow
Auxis rochei rochei (Risso 1810) in honor of Swiss physician-naturalist François-Etienne Delaroche (1780-1813), whose papers on Mediterranean fishes are cited several times by Risso
Auxis rochei eudorax Collette & Aadland 1996 eu-, well; doras, cuirass, a piece of armor covering body from neck to waist (e.g., breastplate), referring to well-developed corselet compared to nominate form [sometimes treated as a full species]
Auxis thazard thazard (Lacepède 1800) etymology not explained, presumably derived from Tazo or Tazard, its local names in New Guinea as recorded in a manuscript by naturalist Philibert Commerçon (also spelled Commerson, 1727-1773)
Auxis thazard brachydorax Collette & Aadland 1996 brachys, short; doras, cuirass, a piece of armor covering body from neck to waist (e.g., breastplate), referring to narrow corselet compared to nominate form [treated as a full species by some workers]
Cybiosarda Whitley 1935 etymology not explained; proposed as a subgenus of Scomberomorus, presumably a combination of Cybium (former name of Scomberomorus) and Sarda
Cybiosarda elegans (Whitley 1935) elegant, allusion not explained but clearly referring to its striking color pattern, with stripes on belly, spots on upper surface, bluish-gray upper body, and yellow fins and finlets (except for black first dorsal fin)
Euthynnus Lütken 1883 eu-, true; thynnus, tunny, no reason given, nor obvious, for the eu– prefix
Euthynnus affinis (Cantor 1849) related, presumably referring to its resemblance in “general outline” to Katsuwonus pelamis, its presumed congener at the time
Euthynnus alletteratus (Rafinesque 1810) latinization of its Sicilian name, Alletteratu
Euthynnus lineatus Kishinouye 1920 lined, referring to 3-5 broad black stripes on upper sides
Grammatorcynus Gill 1862 grammatos, line, similar or related to Orycnus (=Thunnus) but with a double lateral line [originally spelled Grammatorycnus, considered a typo even though Gill consistently (but incorrectly) spelled name as Orycnus; technically, Gill’s spelling should stand but corrected spelling appears to be in prevailing usage (also see Orcynopsis, below)]
Grammatorcynus bicarinatus (Quoy & Gaimard 1825) bi-, two; carinatus, keeled, presumably referring to two smaller keels flanking larger median keel on sides of caudal peduncle (three keels present in all genera except Gasterochisma, Rastrelliger and Scomber, which lack the median keel)
Grammatorcynus bilineatus (Rüppell 1836) bi-, two; lineatus, lined, referring to double lateral line
Gymnosarda Gill 1862 gymnos, bare or naked, similar and/or related to Sarda but with no scales on corselet
Gymnosarda unicolor (Rüppell 1836) uni-, one, referring to uniformly black-violet color on upper body and red-violet behind belly, with no distinctive markings
Katsuwonus Kishinouye 1915 apparent latinization of katsuo, from katsuo-zoku, Japanese name for K. pelamis
Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus 1758) from pelamys, ancient name for tunas dating to at least Aristotle
Orcynopsis Gill 1862 –opsis, appearance, presumably similar to Orcynus (=Thunnus) [originally spelled Orycnopsis, considered a typo even though Gill consistently (but incorrectly) spelled name as Orycnus; technically, Gill’s spelling should stand but corrected spelling appears to be in prevailing usage (also see Grammatorcynus, above)]
Orcynopsis unicolor (Geoffroy St. Hilaire 1817) uni-, one, referring to uniform blue-black coloration on upper body without any prominent stripes or spots
Rastrelliger Jordan & Starks 1908 rastrella, diminutive of rastrum, rake; –iger, to bear, distinguished from Scomber by “excessively long and numerous” gill rakers of R. brachysoma, “longer than eye, the mouth looking as if ‘full of feathers’ ”
Rastrelliger brachysoma (Bleeker 1851) brachy, short; soma, body, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to shorter (in length) and deeper body compared to other scombrids
Rastrelliger faughni Matsui 1967 in honor of James L. Faughn (1910-1985), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Captain of the SIO research vessel Stranger, from which he led the Naga Expedition (1959-1961) to the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea, during which work on this species began
Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier 1816) Kanagurta (sometimes spelled Canagurta), local name for this species at Vizagapatam on the Coromandel Coast of India, as reported by Russell (1803)
Sarda Cuvier 1829 tautonymous with Scomber sarda Bloch 1793
Sarda australis (Macleay 1881) southern, referring to distribution in Southern, or Austral, Hemisphere (Southeastern Australia, Norfolk Island, New Zealand)
Sarda chiliensis chiliensis (Cuvier 1832) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Valparaíso, Chile, type locality (subspecies chiliensis occurs from Gulf of Guayaquil, Peru, south to Talcahuano and Valdivia, Chile; subspecies lineolata occurs from Alaska south to tip of Baja California and Revillagigedo Islands, with strays to the Hawaiian Islands)
Sarda chiliensis lineolata (Girard 1858) lined, presumably referring to “longitudinal and somewhat oblique blackish streaks” on upper body
Sarda orientalis (Temminck & Schlegel 1844) eastern, described from Nagasaki, Japan, in the Orient (widely occurs in Red Sea and Indo-Pacific)
Sarda sarda (Bloch 1793) Bloch based name on a figure of a juvenile S. sarda labeled “Pelamyda Sarda” in Rondelet (1554); according to Cuvier (1829), Sarda was the ancient name for caught and salted tuna in the “western sea” (translation; possibly the west coast of France), whereas Jordan & Evermann (1896) claim Sarda is named for its “being taken in the neighborhood of the island of Sardinia” (same derivation as sardina, the sardine)
Scomber Linnaeus 1758 from skombros, ancient Greek name for tunny or mackerel
Subgenus Scomber
Scomber scombrus Linnaeus 1758 ancient Greek name for tunny or mackerel
Subgenus Pneumatophorus Jordan & Gilbert 1883 pneuma, air; phorus, bearer, referring to presence of air bladder (absent from S. scombrus)
Scomber australasicus australasicus Cuvier 1832 –icus, belonging to: Australasia, i.e., Australia, referring to King George Sound, Western Australia, type locality (widely occurs in Red Sea, Indo-Pacific, and Socorro Island off México in the eastern Pacific)
Scomber australasicus indicus Abdussamad, Sukumaran & Ratheesh 2016 Indian, referring to northern Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea), type locality
Scomber colias Gmelin 1789 kolias, ancient Greek for mackerel, dating to at least Aristotle
Scomber japonicus Houttuyn 1782 Japanese, described from Nagasaki, Japan (but occurs widely in the Pacific Ocean)
Scomberomorus Lacepède 1801 scomber, from skombros, ancient Greek name for tunny or mackerel, here referring to the genus Scomber; [h]omorus, having the same borders with or neighborly, i.e., “designating the resemblances that link it” (translation) with Scomber
Scomberomorus avirostrus Abdussamad & Toji 2023 avis, bird; rostrus, variant spelling of rostris or rostrum, snout, referring to its “distinct bird-beak-like snout”
Scomberomorus brasiliensis Collette, Russo & Zavala-Camin 1978 –ensis, suffix denoting place: described from a market in Belém, Brazil; according to Collette & Graves (Tunas and Billfishes of the World, 2019), named for its commercial-fisheries importance in Brazil
Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuvier 1829) Portuguese name for this species as reported in Marcgrave’s Historiae naturalis brasiliae (1648)
Scomberomorus commerson (Lacepède 1800) in honor of French naturalist Philibert Commerçon (also spelled Commerson, 1727-1773), whose notes and illustration provided the descriptive material for Lacepède [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Scomberomorus concolor (Lockington 1879) colored uniformly, dark-steel blue above, silvery below, without (per Lockington in a follow-up publication) the dark oblique streaks of Sarda chiliensis
Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) spotted, referring to several longitudinal rows of small brownish spots scattered rather densely along lateral median line
Scomberomorus koreanus (Kishinouye 1915) Korean, described from western coast of Korea (occurs in continental waters from Bombay, India, east to Singapore, and north to the Sea of Japan)
Scomberomorus leopardus (Shaw 1803) Latin for leopard, referring to numerous black leopard-like spots on sides
Scomberomorus lineolatus (Cuvier 1829) lined, referring (per Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831) to a “multitude” (translation) of narrow, wavy, irregular, and broken black lines on sides
Scomberomorus maculatus (Mitchill 1815) spotted, referring to ~20 yellowish spots that “decorate the sides” and give the fish a “gay appearance,” distributed “without any regard to rows” (Collette and Graves in their 2019 book Tunas and Billfishes of the World incorrectly state that maculatus means black and guess name refers to black anterior part of dorsal fin)
Scomberomorus multiradiatus Munro 1964 multi-, many; radiatus, rayed, easily distinguished from congeners by having 23 instead of 15-21 rays (excluding finlets) in second dorsal fin, and 28 instead of 14-22 rays (excluding finlets) in anal fin
Scomberomorus munroi Collette & Russo 1980 in honor of “distinguished” Australian ichthyologist Ian S. R. Munro (1919-1994), who published the only taxonomic review of the genus in 1943
Scomberomorus niphonius (Cuvier 1832) –ius, adjectival suffix: Niphon (now Nippon, or Japan), described from an illustration of a specimen from Japan (occurs in northwest Pacific from Viêt Nam and China to Korea, Russia and Japan)
Scomberomorus plurilineatus Fourmanoir 1966 plurus, more; lineatus, lined, referring to 6-8 irregular rows of interrupted wavy black lines (sometimes spots) on sides
Scomberomorus queenslandicus Munro 1943 –icus, belonging to: northern Queensland, Australia, where type locality (Cape Cleveland) is situated (also occurs off southern Papua New Guinea)
Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch 1793) royal or kingly, referring to its German name, Königsfisch (Kingfish)
Scomberomorus semifasciatus (Macleay 1883) semi-, partial; fasciatus, banded, referring to 12 or more blackish vertical bands on lower body (which fade with growth)
Scomberomorus sierra Jordan & Starks 1895 vernacular name for this and related mackerels in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México (type locality), meaning saw, perhaps referring to jagged appearance of first dorsal-fin rays and/or dorsal and anal finlets
Scomberomorus sinensis (Lacepède 1800) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Sinica (China), described from a Chinese drawing (no types known)
Scomberomorus tritor (Cuvier 1832) etymology not explained; a tritor is a grinding surface developed on a tooth, but that definition does not appear to apply to this mackerel
Thunnus South 1845 from the Greek thynnos, tuna or tunny (replacement name for Thynnus Cuvier 1816, preoccupied by Fabricius 1775 in Hymenoptera)
Subgenus Thunnus
Thunnus alalunga (Bonnaterre 1788) local name for this tuna in Sardinia (type locality), from ala, wing and longus, long, referring to long pectoral fins, the longest among tunas
Thunnus maccoyii (Castelnau 1872) in honor of Irish paleontologist Frederick McCoy (1817-1899, note latinization of “Mc” to “Mac”), Director, National Museum of Natural History and Geology (Melbourne, Australia), “who did all in his power to assist” Castelnau
Thunnus obesus (Lowe 1839) fat or stout, referring to “shorter thickset figure” compared to T. vulgaris (=thynnus)
Thunnus orientalis (Temminck & Schlegel 1844) eastern (or of the Orient), described from Nagasaki, Japan (but widely occurs throughout the Pacific and in the eastern Indian Ocean)
Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus 1758) from the Greek thynnos, tuna or tunny
Subgenus Neothunnus Kishinouye 1923 neo-, new, proposed as new genus with species previously recognized as Thunnus
Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre 1788) from Albicores, Portuguese name for this tuna in Jamaica; according to Jordan & Evermann (1896), derived from the Arabic al a and bacora, meaning “little pig”
Thunnus atlanticus (Lesson 1831) –icus, belonging to: referring to its distribution in the western Atlantic
Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker 1851) from Ikan Tonggol, its local Malay name in Batavia (Jakarta), Indonesia (Ikan=fish) [see also Plicofollis tonggol, Siluriformes: Ariidae]