''Askoldia'' is a

monotypic 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 "unisp ...

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 ...

es 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 ...

Stichaeidae Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies, are a Family (biology), family of marine ray-finned fishes in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the Order (biology), order Scorpaeniformes. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean with a few in the N ...

, the pricklebacks and shannies. Its only species is ''Askoldia variegata'' which is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Askoldia'' was first proposed as a

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 ...

genus in 1910 by the Russian

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 ...

Mikhail Nikolaevich Pavlenko Michael is a common masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew Go ...

when he described its only species ''A. variegatus'', with its type locality given as near Askold Island in

Peter the Great Bay The Peter the Great Gulf (Russian: Залив Петра Великого) is a gulf on the southern coast of Primorsky Krai, Russia, and the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan. The gulf extends for from the Russian–North Korean border, at the ...

in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, Russia. The genus is placed in the subfamily

Opisthocentrinae Opisthocentrinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, classified within the family Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Opisthocentrinae was first put forward as a subfamil ...

within the family Stichaeidae by some authorities, while other classify this taxon as a valid family, Opisthocentridae. Some authorities also recognise two subspecies, the nominate ''A.v. variegata'' and ''A.v. knipowitschi'' but the validity of this subspecies is not generally accepted. ''Askoldia'' is considered to be closely related to '' Kasatkia''.

Etymology

''Askoldia'' is named after its type locality, Askold Island. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''variegata'' means "variegated" and is thought to refer to the colour pattern of a green background colour marked with many poorly defined red spots.

Description

''Askoldia'' has between 57 and 68 spines in the dorsal fin and 2 spines and 38-43 soft rays in the

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 ...

. The pectoral fins have 20-23 fin rays while the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s have a single spine and 3 soft rays. It has

vomerine teeth The vomer (; ) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones. The vomer forms t ...

and a scaled head. This species attains a maximum standard length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Askoldia'' is found in the western North Pacific Ocean from the northern

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

to the Pacific coast of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

and in the Sea of Japan to Peter the Great Bay at depths between . although it is typically found at depths of less than .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2039705, from2=Q2160842 Opisthocentrinae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera