Maxillicosta Scabriceps
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''Maxillicosta'' 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
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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Neosebastinae Neosebastidae, the gurnard scorpionfishes or gurnard perches, is a small family of deep-sea ray-finned fishes. It is part of the suborder Scorpaenoidei within the order Perciformes. These fishes are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Sever ...
, the gurnard scorpionfishes, part of 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 ...
Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family (biology), family of mostly ocean, 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 ...
. They are native to the eastern
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
and the western
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

''Maxillicosta'' was first described as a genus in 1935 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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
Gilbert Percy Whitley Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was curator of fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. Early life and education Gilbert Percy Whitley ...
when he described ''M. scabriceps'', with its type locality given as Kingscote on
Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...
in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, as a monotypic genus but he also explicitly designated ''M scabriceps'' as its
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 ...
. The name of the genus ''Maxillicosta'' was chosen by Whitley as the type species had a scaleless maxilla crossed by five ridges, ''costa'' in contract to the scaled maxilla of ''
Neosebastes ''Neosebastes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, belonging to the subfamily Neosebastinae, the gurnard scorpionfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. These fishes are found in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Neosebastes was fir ...
''.


Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Maxillicosta lopholepis'' Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Bigeye gurnard perch) * '' Maxillicosta meridianus'' Motomura,
Last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts come in many styles and sizes, depending on the exact job they are designed for. Common variations ...
& M. F. Gomon, 2006
(Southern gurnard perch) * '' Maxillicosta raoulensis'' Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Red little gurnard perch) * '' Maxillicosta reticulata'' ( F. de Buen, 1961) * '' Maxillicosta scabriceps'' Whitley, 1935 (Little gurnard perch) * '' Maxillicosta whitleyi'' Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Whitley's gurnard perch)


Characteristics

''Maxillicosta'' gurnard perches are small scorpaenid fishes that possess an expanded rear surface of the maxillary and the outer surface of the
dentary In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone ...
has a number of clear, horizontal ridges. The maxillary, intraorbital and occipital areas of the head have no scales. They have 20-27 fin rays in the
pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...
s. Some of them do not have a
swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
. The smallest species is Whitley's gurnard perch which has a maximum
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 while the largest is the little gurnard perch which has a maximum total length of .


Distribution

''Maxillicosta'' gurnard perches are found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and southeastern Indian Ocean with one species, ''M. reticulata'', found in the
Desventuradas Islands The Desventuradas Islands (, , "Unfortunate Islands" or ''Islas de los Desventurados'', "Islands of the Unfortunate Ones") is a group of four small oceanic islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in the Pacific Ocean. They a ...
and
Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...
in the southeastern Pacific.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1965955 Neosebastinae Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley