''Pogonoscorpius'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It is a monotypic genus, its ony species is ''Pogonoscorpius sechellensis'' which occurs in the western Indian Ocean in the seas around the Seychelles. It is a little known species and, as of 2018, only 2 specimens were known from the Seychelles. It may also occur in the Coral Sea and off Japan and it has been suggested that this taxon is a synonym of '' Rhinopias argoliba''. Others treat it as a valid species and state that it is endemic to the western Indian Ocean. ''Pgonoscorpius'' was first formally described as a genus in 1908 by the British ichthyologist

Charles Tate Regan Charles Tate Regan FRS (1 February 1878 – 12 January 1943) was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes. Born in Sherborne, Dorset, he was educat ...

when he described its only species ''P. sechellensis'', of which Regan gave the type locality as from a depth of 37 fathoms in the Seychelles. The type was collected by

John Stanley Gardiner John Stanley Gardiner (1872–1946) was a British zoologist. Biography Stanley, as he was known, was the younger son of John Jephson Gardiner and Sarah McTier. He was born in Jordanstown (Belfast) in 1872 – two years after his brother Arthur. ...

. The genus name is a compound of ''pogon'' meaning "beard", an allusion to the well developed mental barbel, and ''scorpius'', a "scorpion" indicating that this is a scorpionfish. The specific name indicates that its origin is the Seychelles. ''Pogonoscorpius sechellensis'' is found at depths down to . This species reaches a length of SL. ''Pogonoscorpius sechellensis'' is similar to the species in the genus ''

Rhinopias ''Rhinopias'' is a genus of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. The species in this genus are found in the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Ta ...

'' but differ in colouration and in the possession of a mental barbel. It has 12 spines and 9 soft rays in the dorsal fin, the last ray being split and is sometimes counted as 1.5 rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 5 soft rays. The colour is described a yellowish with reddish tinged fins.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2315841 Scorpaenini Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan Fish described in 1908 Monotypic fish genera Monotypic marine fish genera Monotypic ray-finned fish genera