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''Liocranium'' is a small genus of marine ray-finned fishes,
waspfish Tetraroginae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, commonly known as waspfishes or sailback scorpionfishes, belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are native to the Indian Ocean and the W ...
es belonging to the
subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Tetraroginae, which is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...
as part of the family
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 scorpionfishes and their relatives. The fishes in this genus are found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.


Taxonomy

''Liocranium'' was first described as a genus in 1903 by the Australian
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 Octobe ...
James Douglas Ogilby James Douglas Ogilby (16 February 1853 – 11 August 1925) was an Australian ichthyologist and herpetologist. Ogilby was born in Belfast, Ireland, and was the son of zoologist William Ogilby and his wife Adelaide, née Douglas. He received h ...
when he described a new species of waspfish from Queensland he called ''Liocranium praepositum'' and placed in a new monotypic genus. In 1927 Gilbert Percy Whitley proposed the name ''Abcichthys'' for this genus as he considered that ''Liocranium'' was preoccupied by the spider genus ''
Liocranum ''Liocranum'' is a genus of spiders in the family Liocranidae. The genus was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1866. Species According to ''The World Spider Catalog, Version 12.5'': * '' Liocranum apertum'' Denis, 1960 — France ...
'', however, there is enough difference between these two names to regard ''Liocranium'' as valid and Whitley's name is treated as a synomym. In 1964 Mees classified ''Paracentropogon pleurostigma'', which had been described by Weber from New Guinea, as a subspecies of ''L. praepositum'', ''L.p. pleurostigma''. It has subsequently been recognised as the second species in the genus ''Liocranium''. This taxon is included in the subfamily Tetraroginae within the Scorpaenidae in the 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...
'' however other authorities place that subfamily within the stonefish family
Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marin ...
, while other authorities classify this subfamily as a family in its own right. The genus name ''liocranium'' is a compund of ''leios'', meaning "smooth", and ''cranium'', which means "skull", presumed to refer to the head of ''L. praepositum'' which has no skin flaps or tentacles.


Species

''Liocranium'' has the following 2 species classified within it: * '' Liocranium pleurostigma'' (
Weber Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'. Notable pe ...
, 1913)
(western blackspot waspfish) * ''
Liocranium praepositum ''Liocranium'' is a small genus of marine ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classification of life, classified as part of the Family (biology), family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relati ...
'' Ogilby, 1903 (blackspot waspfish)


Characteristics

''Liocranium'' waspfishes are characterised by having the origin of the dorsal fin being clearly in front of a vertical line running from the rear of the orbit. The dorsal fin is continuous with the front 3 spines not being nearly separate from the other 10. The dorsal fin contains 13 spines and 8, unfrequently 7 or 9, soft rays. There are 14, sometimes 13 or 15, fin rays in the pectoral fins, 4 in the
pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...
s and 5 or 6 in the
anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
. There are no teeth on the
palatine bone In anatomy, the palatine bones () are two irregular bones of the facial skeleton in many animal species, located above the uvula in the throat. Together with the maxillae, they comprise the hard palate. (''Palate'' is derived from the Latin ''pa ...
, There are many, small cycloid scales covering the flanks. The body has a depth which is 39–46% of its
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 m ...
. These fishes attain a maximum total length of .


References

Tetraroginae Marine fish genera Taxa named by James Douglas Ogilby {{Scorpaeniformes-stub