''Pseudovespicula'' 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 ...

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

ous

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. It has been considered to be 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, containing only the

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 ...

, ''Pseudovespicula dracaena'', but some authorities classify three species within the genus. The genus 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 ...

region.

Taxonomy and etymology

''Pseudovespicula'' was first described as a genus in 2001 by the Russian zoologist

Sergey Anatolyevich Mandritsa Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland Sergey is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Sergey is f ...

as a monotypic genus containing only ''Apistus dracaena'', which he also designated the

. ''A. dracaena'' had been described by

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

in 1829 from the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

of India. This genus 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. In 1910

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

Robert Earl Richardson Robert Earl Richardson (28 November 1877 – 14 April 1935) was an American aquatic biologist and ichthyologist. Richardson was born in Brighton, Illinois, on 28 November 1877. His father was Robert and his mother was Emily Dickerson Richardson. H ...

described the genus ''

Vespicula ''Vespicula'' is a genus of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are native to the Indian Ocea ...

'' as a monotypic genus, its only species being ''Prosopodasys gogorzae''. In 2001 Mandrytsa proposed that ''Prosopodasys'' was a synonym of ''Vespicula''. Various workers had then included the species ''Apistus bottae'', ''Apistus dracaena'', ''Prosopodasys cypho'', ''Apistes depressifrons'', ''Apistus trachinoides'' and ''Apistus zollingeri'' in the genus ''Vespicula''. More recently ''A. depressifrons'' was placed in the monotypic genus ''

Neovespicula The leaf goblinfish (''Neovespicula depressifrons'') 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 their relatives. This ...

'', ''A. dracaena'' in ''Pseudovespicula'', and ''A. trachinoides'' into '' Trichosomus'' with ''A. bottae'' and ''A. gogorzae'' being regarded as

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

s of ''Trichosomus trachinoides''. As the type species of ''Vespicula'' is regarded as a junior synonym of ''T. trachinoides'', it follows that ''Vespicula'' is a junior synonym of ''Trichosomus''. This left ''P. cypho'' and ''A. zollingeri'' in ''Vespicula'' but these two species share a number of characteristics with ''P. dracaena'' so they were placed in an expanded ''Pseudovespicula''. The genus name ''Pseudovespicula'' combines ''pseudo'', meaning "false", with the genus name ''Vespicula'', which is a diminutive of ''Vespa'', meaning wasp. ''P. dracaena'' was previously included in ''Vespicula''.

Species

''Pseudovespicula'' includes the following 3 species: * '' Pseudovespicula cypho'' Fowler, 1938 * '' Pseudovespicula dracaena''

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

, 1829 (Draco waspfish) * ''

Pseudovespicula zollingeri ''Pseudovespicula'' is a genus of venomous 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. It has been ...

'' (

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

only includes ''P. dracaena'' in ''Pseudovespicula'' and retains 3 species in ''Vespicula'': ''V. cypho'', ''V. trachinoides'' and ''V. zollingeri''.

Characters

''Pseudovepicula'' waspfishes are characterised by their bodies being covered in small

cycloid scale A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scale (zoology), scales, which can also provide effective Underwater camouflage, camouflage through the us ...

s and there are no cirri or papillae. There is 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 ...

. None of the fin rays in the pectoral fin are detached. 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 to the rear of the rear edge 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 ...

. They have an oblique dorsal profile to the head with a large mouth which is nearly a third of the length of the head and a flattened nape. The dorsal fin has its origin is pin front of the edge of the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

, is continuous with a deep notch, nearly reaching the base, in the membrane between the third and fourth dorsal-fin spines. There is no spine on the

cleithrum The cleithrum (: cleithra) is a membrane bone which first appears as part of the skeleton in primitive Osteichthyes, bony fish, where it runs vertically along the scapula. Its name is derived from Greek κλειθρον = "key (lock)", by analogy ...

. These are small fishes with the draco waspfish being the largest with 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 .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14193578 Tetraroginae Ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Sergey Anatolyevich Mandritsa