''Ocosia'' 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 ...

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,

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 We ...

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 ...

Tetraroginae 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 ...

, 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 ro ...

as part of the family

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 ...

, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the

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 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

''Ocosia'' was originally described as a

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 ...

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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

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

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 of fish. He also did studies of fish of the ...

when they were describing ''Ocosia vespa'' as a new species with its type locality given as

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the i ...

in Japan. This taxon is included in the subfamily Tetraroginae within the Scorpaenidae in 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 ...

'' however other authorities place that subfamily within the stonefish family

Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of Venom, venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classification of life, classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific ocean ...

, while other authorities classify this subfamily as a family in its own right. The genus name ''Ocosia'' is a latinisation of the Japanese word for venomous fishes in the Scorpaeniformes, ''okoze''.

Species

There are currently 9 recognized species in this genus: * '' Ocosia apia'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 (stoutspine waspfish) * '' Ocosia dorsomaculata'' Chungthanawong & Motomura, 2022 * '' Ocosia fasciata''

Matsubara is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,811 in 57351 households and a population density of 7100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Matsubara is located in the center ...

, 1943 * '' Ocosia possi''

Mandritsa Mandritsa (, "Small dairy"; ) is a village in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Ivaylovgrad municipality, Haskovo Province. It is known as the only Albanians, Albanian village in Bulgaria. As of 14 December 2006, Mandritsa has a population of 75. It ...

& S. I. Usachev, 1990 * ''

Ocosia ramaraoi ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classification of life, classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the In ...

'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 * '' Ocosia sphex'' Fricke, 2017 (Bismarck waspfish) * ''

Ocosia spinosa ''Ocosia spinosa'', commonly known as the spine, stone dog, or stone fish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a waspfish belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and ...

'' L. C. Chen, 1981 * '' Ocosia vespa'' D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904 * '' Ocosia zaspilota'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 (polka dot waspfish)

Characteristics

''Ocosia'' waspfishes are characterised by having naked bodies with scales being largely absent. They have a single spine and 5 soft rays in the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

. There are teeth on the

palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

. The origin of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

is in front of the rear of the

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

and there are between 14 and 17 spines in that fin. They have a straight, oblique dorsal profile of the head with no tentacles. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

is clearly separated from the base of the dorsal fin and the uppermost part of the operculum does not extend as far as the base of the dorsal fin. They do not have

papilla Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * ...

e on the head and body. These are small fishes and the largest species, ''O. ramaraoi'' reaches a maximum

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 .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2730313 Tetraroginae Marine fish genera Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks