''Rathbunella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Bathymasteridae Ronquils (sometimes spelt ronchils) is a small family marine ray-finned fish, the Bathymasteridae. These fishes are found only in Arctic and North Pacific waters. This family contains just seven species in three genera. The larger species are im ...

, the ronquils. These fishes are found in the eastern

Pacific Ocean 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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Taxonomy

''Rathbunella'' was first proposed 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 "unispec ...

genus by the American

ichthyologists 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, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

David Starr Jordan and

Barton Warren Evermann Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist. Early life and education Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...

in 1896 with ''Bathymaster hypoplectus'', which had been described by

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He col ...

from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

in 1890, as its

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. The genus is classified in the family Bathymasteridae which is in the

Scorpaeniform The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of 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 species, with over 1,320. They are k ...

suborder Order ( la, ordo) 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 ...

Zoarcoidei Zoarcoidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. The suborder includes the wolffishes, gunnels and eelpouts. The suborder includes about 400 species. These fishes predominantly found in the boreal sea ...

. The genus name,''Rathbunella'' honors

Richard Rathbun Richard Rathbun (January 25, 1852 – July 16, 1918) was an American biologist and administrator at the Smithsonian Institution. Biography Richard Rathbun was born in Buffalo, New York, to Charles Rathbun and his wife Marey (née Furey). He wa ...

, who was the chief of the Division of Scientific Inquiry in the

United States Fish Commission The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...

, in recognition of his services to science.

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * ''

Rathbunella alleni ''Rathbunella'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. These fishes are found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Rathbunella'' was first proposed as a Monotypic taxon ...

'' Gilbert, 1904 * ''

Rathbunella hypoplecta The stripedfin ronquil (''Rathbunella hypoplecta''), also known as the bluebanded ronquil, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. This fish is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ...

'' (Gilbert, 1890) (Stripefin ronquil)

Characteristics

''Rathbunella'' ronquils are distinguished from other genera in the family Bathymasteridae by having the

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

s being broadly united , free from isthmus, creating a thick fold. Their

gill raker Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of th ...

s are short and robust, with small patches of teeth. There are around 100

vomerine teeth The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) 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 maxil ...

which are arranged in concentric arcs which number between 7 and 9. They have between 72 and 88 pored scales in the lateral line. Unlike ''

Bathymaster ''Bathymaster'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathymaster'' was first proposed as a monotypic genus in 1873 by ...

'' but like ''

Ronquilus The Northern ronquil (''Ronquilus jordani'') is species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. This species is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This species is the only known member of its genus. ...

'' there are scales on the cheeks and crown. The only species for which a maximum published length is given is ''R. hypoplecta'' with a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Rathbunella'' ronquils are found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean where they are distributed from

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...

in northern California south to

Bahia San Carlos Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. They are solitary,

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of 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 They o ...

es of shallow coastal waters in rocky areas. The demersal eggs are guarded by the males.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q556624 Bathymasteridae Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann Ray-finned fish genera