''Phasmatocottus'' 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 ...

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

, the "typical" sculpins. The only species in the genus is ''Phasmatocottus ctenopterygius'' from the northwestern Pacific.

Taxonomy

''Phasmatocottus'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1936 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 ...

Rolf Ling Bolin Rolf Ling Bolin (22 March 1901 – 23 August 1973) was an American academic ichthyologist. A genus of lanternfish, '' Bolinichthys'', is named for him. Biography Bolin was born on 22 March 1901 in New York City to Scandinavian American parents. ...

when he described ''Phasmatocottus ctenopterygius'' from

Sendai Bay Sendai Bay () is a bay from the Oshika Peninsula of Miyagi Prefecture to of Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () a ...

in Japan. 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 within the subfamily

Cottinae Cottinae is a subfamily of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. The subfamily has species throughout the northern hemisphere in both marine and freshwater habitats. Genera The following gener ...

of the family Cottidae, however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily

Psychrolutinae The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, flathead sculpins, or tadpole sculpins) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads ...

of the family

Psychrolutidae The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, flathead sculpins, or tadpole sculpins) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads ...

Etymology

''Phasmatocottus'' prefixes the name of the type genus of the Cottidae, Cottus with phasma, which means "ghost" or "spectre", Bolin did not explain what this alluded to. 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 ...

''ctenopterygius'' means "comb-finned" and is a reference to the anterior

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 ...

having rays apparently unconnected to the fin membrane.

Description

''Phasmatocottus'' has a rather compressed body with a largely ovoid cross section. The skin is smooth and lacks scales, other than enlarged scales under the skin of 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 ...

. The preoperculum has 4 spines, the uppermost is enlarged and has branches. There are

vomerine teeth The vomer (; ) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones. The vomer forms t ...

but no

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.

teeth. The gill membranes have a wide join and this forms a fold across the throat. The membranes between the spines of the first dorsal fin are deeply notched down almost as far as the base of the spines. There are 6 or 7 spines in the first dorsal fin →while the second is supported by between 11 and 13 soft rays. The

anal 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 o ...

has 9 or 10 soft rays. There are no free spines on the snout and no spines on the head. 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 ...

is marginally rounded. In alcohol the colour of the body is darkish brown with darker fins. This is a small sculpin with 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 .

Distribution and habitat

''Phasmatocottus'' Is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean where it has been recorded on two occasions, the first was the collection of the holotype in Sendai Bay and the second was in 2001 off

Iturup Iturup (; ), also historically known by #Names, other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly mi ...

Island in the

Kurils The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

. It has been recorded from depths in excess of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2105702 Cottinae Monotypic fish genera Fish of Japan Taxa named by Rolf Ling Bolin Fish described in 1936