''Kuiterichthys'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fishes Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class (biology), class of Osteichthyes, bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built ...

belonging to the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Histiophryninae Histiophryninae, the star-fingered frogfishes, is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The species in this family are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy Histiophryni ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Antennariidae, the frogfishes. These fishes are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia.

Taxonomy

''Kuiterichthys'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

in 1984 by the American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Theodore Wells Pietsch III Theodore Wells Pietsch III (born March 6, 1945) is an American systematist and evolutionary biologist especially known for his studies of anglerfishes. Pietsch has described 72 species and 14 genera of fishes and published numerous scientific pa ...

with ''Chironectes furcipilis'' designated as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. ''C. furcipilis'' was described by

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

in 1817 and its type locality is unknown. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Histiophryninae within the family Antennariidae., while others recognise it as the family Histiophrynidae. However, the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Antennarioidei Antennarioidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. Taxonomy Antennarioidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1912 by the English ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan. The 5th e ...

within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.

Etymology

''Kuiterichthys'' suffixes ''ichthys'', meaning "fish", onto Kuiter, honouring the underwater photographer

Rudie Hermann Kuiter Rudie Hermann Kuiter (born 1943) is an Australian underwater photographer, taxonomist, marine biologist and author of many identification guides to sea fishes. He has described new species of seahorses in the genus ''Hippocampus''. Early life ...

in recognition of his contributions to the ichthyology of Australia.

Species

''Kuiterichthys'' contains the following two recognised species: *'' Kuiterichthys furcipilis'' (

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

, 1817) (Rough anglerfish) *'' Kuiterichthys pietschi''

Arnold Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia U ...

, 2013

Description

''Kuiterichthys'' anglerfishes have the second and third dorsal spines free of the skin and not hidden underneath it. The rough skin is densely covered in denticles. there is a

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

and the rearmost margins of the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

s are attached to the caudal peduncle in front of the base of the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

. The

illicium ''Illicium'' is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae,

is naked, lacking any dermal denticles, the

esca Esca can refer to: * The esca or illicium, a modified luminescent fin ray found in anglerfish * Esca (grape disease) * the Ezka, a river in the Basque country known as "Esca" in Spanish * ESCA or Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis, now ...

, or lure, is distinct and is made up of a number of filamentous appendages.

Distribution

''Kuiterichthys'' are

to southern Australia being distributed from off

Yamba, New South Wales Yamba is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the mouth of the Clarence River. The town economy is strongly based on fishing and tourism, but has a diverse range of influences, due to the 'Sea Change' ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

south and west to off

Esperance, Western Australia Esperance () is a town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth and south of Kalgoorlie. The urban population of Esperance was 12,003 ...

, including around

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13746204 Histiophryninae Marine fish genera Ray-finned fish genera Endemic fauna of Australia Taxa named by Theodore Wells Pietsch III