''Gymnocanthus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific, Arctic and northern Atlantic Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Gymnocanthus'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1839 by the English zoologist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

with ''Cottus ventralis'', which had been described in 1829 by the French zoologist

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". Cuvier ...

from Kamchatka, as its only species. ''Cottus ventralis'' was later shown to be a synonym of ''Cottus pistilliger'', a species which Peter Simon Pallas had described in 1814 from Alaska.The 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' classifies this genus within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae, however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Icelinae of the family Psychrolutidae.

Etymology

''Gymnocanthus'' is a combination of ''gymnos'', meaning "bare" or "naked", and ''acanthus'', which means "thorn" or "spine", Swainson did not explain what this alluded to. It may refer to the head of the type species, which was described as scaleless, although it is actually covered or partially covered with large plates, and which has “few” spines, or it may be a reference to the scaleless preopercular spine and cusps.

Species

''Gymnocanthus'' has seven recognized species in this genus, of these five are native to the northern Pacific Ocean, whereas one lives in arctic waters adjacent to the Atlantic, and one in the central Atlantic: * '' Gymnocanthus detrisus'' C. H. Gilbert & Burke, 1912 * ''

Gymnocanthus galeatus ''Gymnocanthus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific, Arctic and northern Atlantic Oceans. Taxonomy ''Gymnocanthus'' was ...

'' T. H. Bean, 1881 (Armorhead sculpin) * '' Gymnocanthus herzensteini'' D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904 * '' Gymnocanthus intermedius'' ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) * '' Gymnocanthus pistilliger'' (Pallas, 1814) (Threaded sculpin) * ''

Gymnocanthus tricuspis The Arctic staghorn sculpin (''Gymnocanthus tricuspis'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This sculpin is found in the Arctic Ocean and the northern Atlantic Ocean. Taxonomy The Arctic ...

'' ( J. C. H. Reinhardt, 1830) (Arctic staghorn sculpin) * '' Gymnocanthus vandesandei'' Poll, 1949

References

Taxa named by William John Swainson Ray-finned fish genera Taxa described in 1839 {{Scorpaeniformes-stub