''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes,

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 W ...

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 subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Tetraroginae, 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 roc ...

as part of the family

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly 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 spines coated with venom ...

, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Ocosia'' was originally described as a monotypic genus in 1904 by the American

ichthyologist 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 Octobe ...

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 Univer ...

and

Edwin Chapin Starks Edwin Chapin Starks (born in Baraboo, Wisconsin on January 25, 1867; died December 29, 1932) was an ichthyologist most associated with Stanford University. He was known as an authority on the osteology of fish. He also did studies of fish of the Pu ...

when they were describing ''Ocosia vespa'' as a new species with its type locality given as Sagami Bay in Japan. This taxon is included in the subfamily Tetraroginae within the Scorpaenidae in 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 ...

'' however other authorities place that subfamily within the stonefish 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 ...

, while other authorities classify this subfamily as a family in its own right. The genus name ''Ocosia'' is a latinisation of the Japanese word for venomous fishes in the Scorpaeniformes, ''okoze''.

Species

There are currently 9 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Ocosia apia ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and wester ...

'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 (stoutspine waspfish) * ''

Ocosia dorsomaculata ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and weste ...

'' Chungthanawong & Motomura, 2022 * ''

Ocosia fasciata ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and weste ...

Matsubara is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,811 in 57351 households and a population density of 7100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Matsubara is located in the cente ...

, 1943 * ''

Ocosia possi ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and weste ...

Mandritsa Mandritsa ( bg, Мандрица, "Small dairy"; ) is a village in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Ivaylovgrad municipality, Haskovo Province. It is known as the only Albanian village in Bulgaria. As of 14 December 2006, Mandritsa has a population ...

& S. I. Usachev, 1990 * ''

Ocosia ramaraoi ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and weste ...

'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 * ''

Ocosia sphex ''Ocosia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, waspfishes belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fish are found in the Indian Ocean and weste ...

'' Fricke, 2017 (Bismarck waspfish) * '' Ocosia spinosa'' L. C. Chen, 1981 * '' Ocosia vespa'' D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904 * '' Ocosia zaspilota'' Poss & Eschmeyer, 1975 (polka dot waspfish)

Characteristics

''Ocosia'' waspfishes are characterised by having naked bodies with scales being largely absent. They have a single spine and 5 soft rays in the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

. There are teeth on the palatine. The origin of the dorsal fin is in front of the rear of the orbit and there are between 14 and 17 spines in that fin. They have a straight, oblique dorsal profile of the head with no tentacles. 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 ...

is clearly separated from the base of the dorsal fin and the uppermost part of the operculum does not extend as far as the base of the dorsal fin. They do not have papillae on the head and body. These are small fishes and the largest species, ''O. ramaraoi'' reaches a maximum

standard 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 m ...

of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2730313 Tetraroginae Marine fish genera Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks