Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea bottom close to the shore, at depths of up to . They 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 ...

region.

Taxonomy

Aploactinidae was first formally recognised as a family 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, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of O ...

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and Edwin Chapin Starks in 1904.The 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' classifies the family within the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) 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 ...

Scorpaenoidei which in turn is classified within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320. They are ...

. Other authorities place the Scorpaenoidei within the

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

. The results of some studies suggest that the velvetfishes into an expanded stonefish clade, the family

Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, ...

because all of these fish have a curved sabre-like lacrimal spine that can project, using a switch-blade-like mechanism, out from underneath their eye. The name of the family is taken from that of the type genus, ''Aploactis''. which is a compound of "haplo" meaning "single" or "simple", and ''actis'', maening "ray", presumed to refer to the simple, unbranched soft rays of the fins.

Genera

The following genera are classified within the family Aploactinidae: * '' Acanthosphex'' Fowler, 1938 * ''

Adventor The visitor (''Adventor elongatus''), also known as the sandpaper velvetfish,is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Adventor''. This species i ...

'' Whitley, 1952 * ''

Aploactis The dusky velvetfish (''Aploactis aspera'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Aploactis''. This species is found in the western Pacific ...

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminc ...

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), former American football linebacker * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, older brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlege ...

, 1843 * ''

Aploactisoma The Southern velvetfish (''Aploactisoma milesii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Aploactisoma''. This species is endemic to the wate ...

'' Castelnau, 1872 * ''

Bathyaploactis ''Bathyaploactis'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. The genus is endemic to the waters around Australia. Taxonomy ''Bathyaploactis'' was first described as a genus in 1933 by the Austra ...

'' Whitley, 1933 * ''

Cocotropus ''Cocotropus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, velvetfishes belonging to the family Aploactinidae. The genus is found in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Taxonomy Cocotropus was first described as a genus in 1858 by the German n ...

'' Kaup, 1858 * ''

Erisphex ''Erisphex'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, velvetfishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Aploactinidae. The genus is found in the Indian Ocean, Indian and western Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Taxonomy ''Erisphex'' was original ...

'' Jordan & Starks 1904 * ''

Kanekonia ''Kanekonia'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, velvetfishes belonging to the family Aploactinidae. The genus is found in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans. Taxonomy ''Kanekonia'' was originally described as a genus in 1915 b ...

'' Tanaka, 1915 * ''

Matsubarichthys The rare velvetfish (''Matsubarichthys inusitatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is known only from the coasts of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. It is the only ...

'' Poss &

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

, 1991 * '' Neoaploactis'' Eschmeyer &

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

, 1978 * '' Paraploactis'' Bleeker, 1864 * '' Peristrominous'' Whitley, 1952 * '' Prosoproctus'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1979 * '' Pseudopataecus''

, 2004 * '' Ptarmus'' J. L. B. Smith, 1947 * '' Sthenopus''

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Capi ...

, 1848 * '' Xenaploactis'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1980

Characteristics

Velvetfishes get their name from the modified, prickly scales which cover the body and give the fish a velvety appearance, although there are some species which do not have these modified scales and have smooth skin, They typically have knobby lumps on the head, although sometimes there may be sharp spines. All of the fin rays are unbranched and the spines in the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

are normally weakly developed and blunt. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

has its origin over or nearly above the eye. The first 3 to 5 dorsal fin spines may be separate, from the rest of the dorsal fin and can be raised or have almost no membrane between them. These separate spines form a separate fin in 4 species. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two ...

has a single spine and 2 or 3 soft rays, the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s are very large. In most species there is a fleshy extension on the anterior

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

. There are no teeth on the

palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

s and no gill slit to the rear of last gill arch. One species, '' Prosoproctus pataecus'', from the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

, uniquely among scorpaenoids has its

anus The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, ...

very far forward, just to the rear of the base of the pelvic fins. These are small fishes with the largest species being the roughskin scorpionfish ('' Cocotropus monacanthus'') which has a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

Velvetfishes are found mainly in the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans, but some species are found in the eastern Indian Ocean. The adults are found among vegetation or over rocky, shelly, coral rubble or coralline algae substrates.

Biology

Velvetfishes are uncommon and little-known. These fishes are very well camouflaged

ambush predators Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that predation, capture or trapping, trap prey via crypsis, stealth, aggressive mimicry#Luring prey, luring or by (typically instinctive) hunting strategy, strategies utilizing an ...

hiding amongst algae or rubble on or in the vicinity of rocky and coral reefs. The spines in the fin are venom bearing. Little is known about their

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

behaviour but they do have pelagic

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. T ...

, the large pectoral fins develop early as an adaptation to their pelagic mode of life.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1755617 Aploactinidae Scorpaeniformes Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks Fish families