''Astroscopus'', the electric stargazers, 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 stargazers, a type of

percomorph Percomorpha () is an extremely large and diverse clade of ray-finned fish. With more than 17,000 known species (including Scombroidei, tuna, Syngnathiformes, seahorses, gobies, Cichlidae, cichlids, flatfish, Labridae, wrasse, Perciformes, perches ...

fish from 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 ...

Uranoscopidae, part of 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 ...

Labriformes Labriformes is an Order (biology), order of ray-finned fishes within the clade Percomorpha. Some authors include the Labriformes as the clade Labroidei within the Perciformes while others include more Family (biology), families within the Labrif ...

. The species in this genus are anatomically distinct uranoscopids, being characterized by internal

nare Nare may refer to: People * Daniel Nare, Botswanan football manager * Tadu Teshome Nare (born 2001), Ethiopian runner * Théophile Naré (born 1966), Catholic bishop of Kaya, Burkina Faso Other meanings * Nareh (given name) (or Nare, Nara), Armeni ...

s and being the only group of marine

bony fish Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...

having organs which produce electricity which are derived from the extraocular muscles. They are found on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas.

Species

There are four extant and one extinct species included in ''Astroscopus'': Astroscopus zephyreus 254703040

* ''

Astroscopus guttatus ''Astroscopus guttatus'' or the northern stargazer is a fish belonging to the Uranoscopidae family and was first described by Charles Conrad Abbott in 1860. Members of the Uranoscopidae family are characterized by dorsally or dorsolaterally dire ...

'' Abbott, 1860 - Northern stargazer * '' Astroscopus sexspinosus'' (Steindachner, 1876) - Brazilian Stargazer * '' Astroscopus y-graecum'', (Cuvier, 1829) - Southern stargazer * '' Astroscopus zephyreus'' Gilbert & Starks in Gilbert, 1897 * †'' Astroscopus countermani'' Carnevale, Godfrey & Pietsch, 2011 Extinct species described from the

Tortonian The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian. The Tort ...

deposits of Calvert Cliffs,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

References

Uranoscopidae {{Labriformes-stub Extant Tortonian first appearances