''Lophiomus'' is a

monospecific genus 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 ...

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 ...

, Lophiidae, the goose fishes, monkfishes or anglers. The only species in the

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 ...

is ''Lophiomus setigerus'', the blackmouth angler, blackmouth goosefish, broadheaded angler or broadhead goosefish. This fish is 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 ...

Taxonomy

''Lophiomus'' was first proposed as a genus in 1883 by the American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist, and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural hist ...

with ''Lophius setigerus'' as its only species. ''Lophius setigerus'' was first formally described in 1797 by the Danish-Norwegian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Martin Vahl Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at ...

with its type locality given as "China, western Pacific Ocean". The genus ''Lophiodes'' is one of 4 extant genera in the family Lophiidae which 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 in the

monotypic 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 "unisp ...

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 ...

Lophioidei Goosefishes, sometimes called anglers or monkfishes, are a family, the Lophiidae, of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. The family includes 30 recognized species. These fishes are found in all the ...

with the order Lophiiformes. Within the Lophiidae ''Lophiomus'' is most closely related to ''

Lophius Members of the genus ''Lophius'', also sometimes called monkfish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are various species of lophiid anglerfishes found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. ''Lophius'' is known as the "monk" or "monkfish" to ...

'' with ''

Lophiodes ''Lophiodes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Lophiidae, the goosefishes, monkfishes and anglers. It is one of four extant genera in the family Lophiidae. The fish in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian a ...

' being the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to these and with '' Sladenia'' as the most basal sister group to the other three genera.

Etymology

''Lophiomus'' was coined by Guill when he proposed the genus as being different from ''Lophius'' but he did not explain the suffix ''-omus''. In 1898,

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

and

Barton Warren Evermann Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist. Early life and education Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...

posited that it was derived from ''omos'', meaning "shoulder", stating that Gill had alluded to a "trifid hemeral spine" which had been mentioned by Gill in 1878 but this was a reference to '' Lophius americanus'', under the name ''

Lophius piscatorius ''Lophius piscatorius'', commonly known as the anglerfish, frog fish, fishing frog, monk, European angler, common monkfish, sea devil, or devil fish, is a monkfish in the family Lophiidae. It is found in coastal waters of the northeast Atlantic ...

''. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''setigerus'' is a compound of ''seta'', which means "bristle" and ''iger'', meaning "to bear", an allusion to the many spines on the upper body and sides of this fish.

Description

''Lophiomus'' goosefishes have a strongly flattened head and body. The ridges on the frontal, maxllary and dentary bones have a covering of conical spines which makes then rough. There are 2 spines between the eyes. The body is plain dark brown on the upper body and pale on the lower body. The fins are the same colour as the area of body they are next to. The maximum published

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

of this species is , although is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

''Lophiomus'' has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the eastern African coast between the Red Sea in the north to South Africa, through the Indian Ocean, including the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, east into the Pacific Ocean as far east as Fiji and Marshall Islands, north to Japan and south to Australia and

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 ...

. This species is found at depths between on substrates of sand or mud.

Fisheries

''Lophiomus'' was, in the past, a species caught only as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

but it is now a target for commercial fisheries in China, Japan and Korea. It is a valuable catch and the liver is regarded as a delicacy. In Korea it is used to make the dish

agujjim ''Agwi-jjim'' * () or ''agu-jjim'' () is a Korean ''jjim'' dish made with blackmouth angler, the fish known as ''agwi'' in Korean. The name of the dish is usually translated as "braised spicy angler". The dish is seasoned with hot chili peppe ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2915592 Lophiidae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Theodore Gill