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

belonging to 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 ...

Peristediidae Peristediidae, the armored sea robins or armoured gurnards, is a Family (biology), family of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Platycephaloidei in the Order (biology), order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the deep wa ...

, the armoured gurnards or armored searobins. These fishes are found in the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Taxonomy

''Paraheminodus'' was first described as a genus in 1958 by the Japanese

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 ...

Toshiji Kamohara Toshiji is a masculine Japanese name, Japanese given name. Written forms Toshiji can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *敏次, "agile, next" *敏二, "agile, two" *敏治, "agile, to manage/cure" *敏 ...

with ''Satyrichthys laticephalus'', which Kamohara had described in 1952, with off Mimase in Kochi Prefecture in Japan as its type locality, designated at its type species, although the genus was described as

monospecific 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 ...

. The genus is classified within the family Peristediidae. Within the family Peristediidae there are 2 clades, this genus is in the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

consisting of 5 genera, with the nominate genus ''

Peristedion ''Peristedion'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Peristediidae, the armoured gurnards or armored sea robins. These fishes are found in Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific ocean waters. Taxonomy Peristedion was first des ...

'' in the other clade. The name of the genus ''Paraheminodus'' means "near '' Heminodus''" from which this genus differs by having well developed barbels on its chin.

Species

There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus: * '' Paraheminodus kamoharai'' Kawai, Imamura & Nakaya, 2004 * '' Paraheminodus laticephalus'' Kamohara, 1952 * '' Paraheminodus longirostralis'' Kawai, Nakaya & Séret, 2008 * '' Paraheminodus murrayi'' Günther, 1880 (Murray's armoured gurnard)

Characteristics

''Paraheminodus'' armoured gurnards are similar in form to ''Heminodus'' and share the band of teeth in the upper jaw with that genus but the barbels on the chin are more developed. Another difference between the two is that in ''Paraheminodus'' the rostral process is long and flattened. like a spatula while in ''Heminodus'' is short and triangular. The smallest of these fishes is ''P. kamoharai'' which has a maximum published

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of while the largest is ''P. murrayi'' which has a maximum published standard length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Paraheminodus'' armoured gurnards are found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, the most widespread species is Murray's armoured gurnard (''P. murrayi'') which ranges from East Africa to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, north to Japan and south to Australia. The other three species are found in the Western Pacific Ocean and are deepwater, demersal fishes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2533743 Peristediidae