''Cepola'' 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 ...

es belonging to the bandfish

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 ...

, Cepolidae. The name red bandfish is applied to all members of this genus, but particularly ''C. macrophthalma'', and generally not ''C. australis'', which is also known as the Australian bandfish.

Taxonomy

''Cepola'' was first formally described as a genus in 1764 by

Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

with ''Ophidion macrophthalmum'' 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 ...

monotypy 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 generic name ''Cepola'' means "little onion", Linnaeus did not explain why he chose this name. It is likely derived from ''cepollam'' or ''cepulam'', which in 1686 was said by

Francis Willughby Francis Willughby (sometimes spelt Willoughby, ) Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (22 November 1635 – 3 July 1672) was an English ornithology, ornithologist, ichthyology, ichthyologist and mathematician, and an early student of linguistics an ...

to be local names among

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fishermen for the similar "''Fierasfer"'', a

pearlfish Pearlfish are marine fish in the ray-finned fish family Carapidae. Pearlfishes inhabit the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at depths to , along oceanic shelves and slopes. They are slender, elongated fish with no s ...

, to which Linnaeus believed ''

Cepola macrophthalma ''Cepola macrophthalma'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from Senegal north to the British Isles. This species is known as the red ba ...

'' was related. As well as this, in 1872

Giovanni Canestrini Giovanni Canestrini (26 December 1835 – 14 February 1900) was an Italian naturalist and biologist and translator who was a native of Revò. Career He initially studied in Gorizia and Meran, then furthered his education in natural sciences at t ...

reported that in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

the common name for ''C. macropthalma'' is ''Pesce cipolia'' meaning "onion fish".

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * '' Cepola australis'' J. D. Ogilby, 1899 (Australian bandfish) * '' Cepola haastii'' (

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

, 1881) * ''

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) (Red bandfish) * ''

Cepola pauciradiata ''Cepola pauciradiata'', the Guinean bandfish (also known as the red bandfish, a name given to most of the other members of the genus ''Cepola'', especially the European species, ''Cepola macrophthalma''), is a species of marine ray-finned fish b ...

'' Cadenat, 1950 * '' Cepola schlegelii'' Bleeker, 1854 There may be a sixth species, as yet undescribed, from the waters near

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Characteristics

''Cepola'' bandfishes are similar to '' Acanthocepola'' bandfishes, in that they have the last ray of the dorsal and anal fins connected to the caudal fin by a membrane. The differences are that they do not have spines on the margin of the preoperculum and they have naked, unscaled cheeks. The total length of these fishes vary from in ''CA. australis'' to in ''C. macrophthalma''. They are normally pinkish or reddish in colour.

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Cepola'' bandfishes are found in the eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea. They create burrows in flat areas of sand and mud substrates, feeding on zooplankton.

Cultural significance

The oldest recorded recipe is for ''C. macrophthalma''. The original recipe book, by Mithaecus, is now lost, but the recipe itself survives thanks to being quoted in the

Deipnosophistae The ''Deipnosophistae'' (, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. , where ''sophists'' may be translated more loosely as ) is a work written in Ancient Greek by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of Greek literature, literary, Ancient history, h ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q590746 Cepolinae Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus