''Paraphyonus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
blind cusk eels found in the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
,
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and
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 continen ...
s. This genus was created for species formerly classified under ''
Aphyonus'' when sampling of specimens showed that the
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 ...
of ''Aphyonus'', ''
A. gelatinosus'', was not closely related to the other known species in the genus, including the newly identified species ''P. iselini'' and ''P. merretti''. This work also brought ''Barathronus solomonensis'' into the new genus. The result of this classification is that ''Aphyonus'' would be 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.
[
]
Species
There are currently 6 recognized species in this genus:
* '' Paraphyonus bolini'' ( J. G. Nielsen, 1974) [
* '' Paraphyonus brevidorsalis'' ( J. G. Nielsen, 1969) ][
* '' Paraphyonus iselini'' J. G. Nielsen, 2015 ][
* '' Paraphyonus rassi'' ( J. G. Nielsen, 1975) ][
* '' Paraphyonus solomonensis'' ( J. G. Nielsen & Møller, 2008) ][
]
References
Aphyonidae
{{Ophidiiformes-stub