''Ebosia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

es belonging to the

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 ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

, the

scorpionfish The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

es. They are known as falcate lionfishes. They are native to the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Taxonomy

''Ebosia'' was described as a genus in 1904 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 October ...

s David Starr Jordan and

Edwin Chapin Starks Edwin Chapin Starks (born in Baraboo, Wisconsin on January 25, 1867; died December 29, 1932) was an ichthyologist most associated with Stanford University. He was known as an authority on the osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bo ...

in 1904 with ''Pterois bleekeri'', which had been described in 1884 by Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Döderlein from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, as the type species. This genus is classified within the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Pteroini Pteroini is a tribe of marine ray-finned fishes, one of two tribes in the subfamily Scorpaeninae. This tribe includes the lionfishes, sawcheek scorpionfishes and turkeyfishes. The taxonomy of the scorpionfishes is in some flux; the 5th Edition ...

of the subfamily

Scorpaeninae Scorpaeninae is a subfamily of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes, it includes the scorpionfishes, the lionfishes and turkeyfishes. They bear venomous spines in the anal, dorsal and pelvic fins which ...

within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name is a latinisation of '' eboshi'', a type of helmet which bears some resemblance to the parietal crests shown by the males in this genus.

Species

There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus:

Characteristics

''Ebosia'' lionfishes are characterised by having the bases of the spines on the nuchal, parietal and coronal bones being continuous with the parietal spine being longer and, in males, creates a slender, bony crest. These lionfishes vary in size from a maximum published

standard 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 in ''E. falcata'' to in ''E. bleekeri''.

Distribution and habitat

''Ebosia'' lionfishes 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 ...

from the eastern coast of Africa between Somalia and South Africa across the Indian Ocean and eastwards into the Pacific Ocean as far as eastern Australia, north to Japan, Korea and China. These fishes are found where there is a sandy or muddy substrates at depths of normally less than .

Biology

Ebosia lionfishes are, like other scorpionfishes, predatory. ''E. bleekeri'' is known to feed on small fishes and crustaceans.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2857002 Pteroini Venomous fish Marine fish genera Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks