''Sthenopus'' is 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 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 ...

, a

velvetfish Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a Family (biology), family, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea ...

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 ...

Aploactinidae Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea bottom close to t ...

. It is found in the 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 ...

where it is known from China and Thailand. The only known member of this

is ''Sthenopus mollis''.

Taxonomy

''Sthenopus'' was described as a genus in 1848 by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

Arctic explorer Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...

John Richardson when he described ''Sthenopus mollis'' as a new species from the "Sea of China". He placed this new species in the new monotypic genus ''Sthenopus''. This taxon 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 ...

within the family Aploactinidae in the

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 ...

Scorpaenoidei Scorpaenoidei is a suborder of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes, part of the Order (biology), order Perciformes, that includes the scorpionfishes, lionfishes and velvetfishes. This suborder is at its most diverse in the Pacific and Indian Oceans ...

within the order

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 ...

, although this family is also treated as a subfamily of the stonefish family Synanceiinae, Synanceiidae within the Scorpaenoidei, which in turn is treated as a Superfamily (biology), superfamily within the order Perciformes. The name of the genus, ''Sthenopus'' combiunes ''sthenos'', meaning "strong" (although Richardson may have meant ''asthenos'', i.e. "weak"), with ''pous'', meaning "foot", an allusion to the pelvic fins being relatively small in size. The Specific name (zoology), specific name ''mollis'' means "soft", a reference to the soft, loose, scale-less skin.

Description

''Sthenopus'' has the 3 front spines in the dorsal fin originating above or just to the rear of the eye and have a wide gap between them and the rest of the dorsal fin. It has a smooth body which is clothedin many elongated cirrhi, particularly towards the front. The lacrimal bone is weakly ossified and has no spines.

Distribution and habitat

''Sthenopus'' is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific. It occurs from Singapore to the South China Sea. It is a demersal fish.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1591689 Aploactinidae Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1848 Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)