''Plectrogenium'', 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, the stinger flatheads, the only genus classified within 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 ...
Plectrogeninae, which in turn is classified within 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 ...
. This genus is found in the
Indian and
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five 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 bounded by the cont ...
Oceans.
Taxonomy
''Plectrogenium'' was originally named 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 1905 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 ...
Charles Henry Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...
when he
described what was then considered to be its only species,
''Plectrogenium nanum'', from Hawaii.
''Plectrogenium'' is the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Plectrogeninae which is
classified within the family Scorpaenidae in the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Scorpaeniformes
The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse Order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of spec ...
by some authorities.
Other authorities treat this taxon as part of a separate family Plectrogenidae, alongside the genus ''
Bembradium'', and place this family in the
perciform 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 ...
Platycephaloidei.
The genus name, ''Plectrogenium'', is a compound of ''plectro'', which means "spur", and ''genys'', which means "cheek"or "chin", an allusion to the lines of robust spines along the sides of the head.
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:
[
* '' Plectrogenium barsukovi'' Mandritsa, 1992
* '' Plectrogenium capricornis'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium kamoharai'' Uesaka, Yamakawa, Matsunuma & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium kanayamai'' Uesaka, Yamakawa, Matsunuma & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium longipinnis'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium megalops'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium nanum'' C. H. Gilbert, 1905
* '' Plectrogenium occidentalise'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium rubricauda'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
* '' Plectrogenium serratum'' Matsunuma, Uesaka, Yamakawa & Endo, 2021
]
Characteristics
''Plectrogenium'' is characterised by having a laterally compressed body with a number of spines and ridges on the head. There are venom glands on the spines in the dorsal
Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to:
* Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism
* Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage
The fus ...
, anal and 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 ...
s. The dorsal fin typically has 12 spines and 71/2 soft rays, the dorsal fin is split into 2 fins with 2 spines in the anterior part of the second dorsal fin. There are between 22 and 25 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 and they have 30-35 vertical rows of ctenoid scales on the body. There are flattened spines on the suborbital ridge which resembles that of the Platycephalidae
The Platycephalidae are a Family (biology), family of marine ray-finned fish, most commonly referred to as flatheads. They are relatives of the lionfish, and belong to the order Perciformes.
Taxonomy
Platycephalidae was first proposed as a famil ...
. The mouth is positioned ventrally. They are small fishes with standard lengths of less than
Distribution and habitat
''Plectrogenium'' is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Madagascar to Hawaii. They are bathydemersal
Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of ocean, seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 T ...
fishes which are found at depths greater than .[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2325680
Scorpaenidae
Marine fish genera
Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert