''Bembradium'' 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 ...

Bembridae Bembridae, the deep-water flatheads, are a family of bottom-dwelling ray-finned fishes. They are found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy Bembridae was first proposed as a family in 1873 by the German zoologist Johann Jakob Kaup ...

, the deepwater flatheads. These fishes are found in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Bembradium'' was first proposed as a genus by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert in 1905 when he described the new species, ''Bembradium roseum'', from the Pailolo channel in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. He designated his new species as the

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 ...

of the new monotypic genus. Subsequently the French ichthyologists Pierre Fourmanoir and Jacques Rivaton described a second species, ''B. furici'', from the Isle of Pines in the Province Sud on Grande Terre in

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 ...

in 1979. In 2019 a third species was described from the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

. In 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 ...

'' the genus is classified within the family Bembridae, the deep water flatheads. Other authorities classify the genus in the family Plectrogeniidae.

Species

There are currently 3 recognized species in this genus: * '' Bembradium furici'' Fourmanoir & Rivaton, 1979 * '' Bembradium magnoculum'' Kishimoto, Kawai, Tashiro & Aungtonya, 2019 * '' Bembradium roseum'' C. H. Gilbert, 1905

Etymology

The genus name means "like ''

Bembras ''Bembras'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bembridae, the deepwater flatheads. These fishes are found in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bembras'' was first proposed as a monotypic genus i ...

''", the type genus of Bembridae.

Characteristics

''Bembradium'' is diagnosed as a genus by the front part of the head behind very flattened, becoming less flattened to the rear. The lower jaw does not protrude. The suborbital ridge bears many spines. The origin of the pectoral fins is behind a vertical line through the origin of the pelvic fins. The lateral line runs through the centre of the flanks. The scales on the body are large. These are small fishes in which the maximum published standard length is around .

Distribution and habitat

''Bembradium'' deepwater flatheads are found in the Indo-Pacific region from the Andaman Sea to Hawaii. They are found in deep water.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1592803 Bembridae Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert