The Southern velvetfish (''Aploactisoma milesii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family

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 the only member of the monotypic genus ''Aploactisoma''. This species is endemic to the waters around southern and western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Taxonomy

The Southern velvetfish was first formally described as ''Aploactis milesii'' in 1850 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 ...

naval surgeon,

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 ...

and naturalist John Richardson with the type locality given King George Sound, Western Australia. In 1872 the French naturalist François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau described a new species, ''Aploactisoma schomburki'', and described it in a new genus. Subsequently this was shown to be a junior synonym of Richardson's ''A. milesii'' but the new genus was regarded as valid. The genus ''Aploactisoma'' 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 roc ...

within the family Aploactinidae in the

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 ...

Scorpaenoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes, although this family is also treated as a subfamily of the

stonefish ''Synanceia'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Synanceiinae, the stonefishes, which is classified within the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and relatives. Stonefishes are venomous, dangerous, and fatal to huma ...

family

Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marin ...

within the Scorpaenoidei, which in turn is treated as a

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

within the order Perciformes. The name of the genus, ''Aploactisoma'' appends ''soma'', meaning "body", to ''

Aploactis The dusky velvetfish (''Aploactis aspera'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Aploactis''. This species is found in the western Pacific Ocean ...

'', as this genus differs from the dusky velvetfish in having palatine teeth and meristics. 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 ...

honours a Mr Miles, a collector of fishes in Australia and possibly transported there, who presented the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

of this species , among other

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s, to the Museum of Haslar Hospital in Hampshire. Richardson studied the specimen after he established this museum in 1838.

Description

The Southern velvetfish has a long dorsal fin which originates just in front of the level of the eye and runs along its back, with just a narrow space between its last ray and the rounded caudal fin. The pectoral fins are long, rounded and have notches between the thickened upper fin rays. The dorsal fin contains between 13 and 15 spines and between 12 and 16 soft rays while the anal fin has a single spine and between 9 and 13 soft rays. The skin is thickened and has a velvet-like appearance. 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 epithelial ...

runs along the flanks and has knobs and filaments of differing sizes. The colour varies from grey to cream or brown, marked with purplish mottling. This species grows to a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and habitat

The Southern velvetfish 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 ...

where it is endemic to the temperate waters of Australia, occurring from Minnie Water in the

Yuraygir National Park Yuraygir is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, located northeast of Sydney. It was created in 1980, a result of the merger and enlargement of two national parks, Angourie and Red Rock National Parks, both of which had been establis ...

in northern New South Wales soyuth and west to

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

in Western Australia, including the northern coast of Tasmania. This species occurs at depths between in sheltered waters like bays and estuaries.

Biology

The Southern velvetfish is sometimes observed between rocks and sponges, sometimes partially burying itself in the sand. This species is a predator of small crustaceans such as shrimp. The spines in the fins are venomous. It is quite common but its habits and camouflage mean that it is infrequently observed by divers. When it swims it resembles floating seaweed, rolling from one side to the other as it slowly moves across the seabed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1819292, from2=Q1532488 Aploactinidae Fish described in 1850 Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist) Taxa named by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau Monotypic fish genera