''Kentrocapros'' 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 fishes Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class (biology), class of Osteichthyes, bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built ...

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 ...

Aracanidae Aracanidae, the deep sea boxfishes or temperate boxfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonong to the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes the pufferfishes, triggerfishes and ocean sunfishes. The fishes in this family are f ...

, the deepwater boxfishes or temperate boxfishes. These fishes are found in the coastal waters of the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

and

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

Taxonomy

''Kentrocarpos'' 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 ...

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''

Aracana ''Aracana'' is a genus of Marine life, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Aracanidae, the deepwater boxfishes or temperate boxfishes. These fishes are Endemism, endemic to the waters around Australi ...

'' in 1855 by the German

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

with ''Ostracion hexagonus'' as its only species. ''O. hexagonus'' was originally described in 1787 by

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Sweden, Swedish Natural history, naturalist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus ...

with its type locality given as Japan. This was later found to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''O. cubicus aculeatus'', described by

Martinus Houttuyn Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720 – 2 May 1798; Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn) was a Dutch naturalist. Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history, e.g. ...

in 1782 from

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. 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 ...

'' classifies this genus in the family Aracanidae which is in the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Ostracioidea Ostracioidea or Ostracioidei, the boxfishes, is a suborder of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes the pufferfishes, filefishes and triggerfishes. The fishes in this taxon are found in the Atlantic, India ...

within 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 ...

Tetraodontiformes Tetraodontiformes (), also known as the Plectognathi, is an order of ray-finned fishes which includes the pufferfishes and related taxa. This order has been classified as a suborder of the order Perciformes, although recent studies have found ...

Etymology

''Kentrocapros'' combines ''kentro'' meaning "thorn" or "spine", a reference to the spiny ridge along the flanks of the type species, with ''capros'', meaning "wild boar". This may allude to these fishes being known as seapigs in the 19th Century, probably an allusion to the resmeblance of these fishes on a rear view to a pig.

Species

''Kentrocapros'' currently has six recognised species within it: * ''

Kentrocapros aculeatus ''Kentrocapros aculeatus'', the Itomaki basketfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aracanidae, the temperate boxfishes or deepwater boxfishes. This species is found in the north western and central Pacific Ocean. ...

'' ( Houttuyn, 1782) (Itomaki basketfish) * ''

Kentrocapros eco ''Kentrocapros'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Aracanidae, the deepwater boxfishes or temperate boxfishes. These fishes are found in the coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Kentrocarpos ...

'' (

Phillipps Phillipps is both a given name and an English surname. Notable people with the name include: "Phillipps" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. People with the ...

, 1932) * ''

Kentrocapros flavofasciatus ''Kentrocapros flavofasciatus'', the yellowstriped boxfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aracanidae, the temperate boxfishes or deepwater boxfishes. This species has an antitropical distribution in the northern ...

'' ( Kamohara, 1938) (Yellowstriped boxfish) * ''

Kentrocapros flavimaculatus ''Kentrocapros flavimaculatus'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aracanidae, the temperate boxfishes or deepwater boxfishes. This species is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean around New Zealand and was first ...

'' Matsuura, 2023 (Yellowspotted boxfish) * '' Kentrocapros rosapinto'' (

J. L. B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyology, ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought t ...

, 1949) (Basketfish) * '' Kentrocapros spilonotus'' ( C. H. Gilbert, 1905) (Hawaiian basketfish) In the paper describing ''K. flavimaculatus'' Keiichi Matsuura states that the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of ''K. eco'' is in too poor condition to correctly identify it to species and that this taxon should be regarded as a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

''.

Characteristics

''Kentrocarpos'' deepwater boxfishes are distinguished from other genera in the family Aracanidae by having a hexagonal cross section to the body with the carapce having six longitudinal ridges, three on each side of the fish, one on the lower body, one in the middle of the side and one on the upper body. There are 9 branched rays in the

caudal 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 only ...

. These are small fishes with the largest species being ''K. flavofasciatus'' which has a maximum published

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of while the smallest is ''K. spilonota'' with a maximum published standard length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Kentrocarpos'' deepwater boxfishes are found in the Indo-West Pacific where they occur in temperate and tropical waters at depths between .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1817214 Aracanidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup