''Pseudovespicula'' is a genus of venomous 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. It has been considered to be a monotypic genus, containing only the type species, ''Pseudovespicula dracaena'', but some authorities classify three species within the genus. The genus 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 ...

region.

Taxonomy and etymology

''Pseudovespicula'' was first described as a genus in 2001 by the Russian zoologist Sergey Anatolyevich Mandritsa as a monotypic genus containing only ''Apistus dracaena'', which he also designated the type species. ''A. dracaena'' had been described by

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 ...

in 1829 from the Malabar Coast of India. This genus 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. In 1910

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 Robert Earl Richardson described the genus '' Vespicula'' as a monotypic genus, its only species being ''Prosopodasys gogorzae''. In 2001 Mandrytsa proposed that ''Prosopodasys'' was a synonym of ''Vespicula''. Various workers had then included the species ''Apistus bottae'', ''Apistus dracaena'', ''Prosopodasys cypho'', ''Apistes depressifrons'' , ''Apistus trachinoides'' and ''Apistus zollingeri'' in the genus ''Vespicula''. More recently ''A. depressifrons'' was placed in the monotypic genus ''

Neovespicula The leaf goblinfish (''Neovespicula depressifrons'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a waspfish belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. T ...

'', ''A. dracaena'' in ''Pseudovespicula'', and ''A. trachinoides'' into '' Trichosomus'' with ''A. bottae'' and ''A. gogorzae'' being regarded as

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s of ''Trichosomus trachinoides''. As the type species of ''Vespicula'' is regarded as a junior synonym of ''T. trachinoides'', it follows that ''Vespicula'' is a junior synonym of ''Trichosomus''. This left ''P. cypho'' and ''A. zollingeri'' in ''Vespicula'' but these two species share a number of characteristics with ''P. dracaena'' so they were placed in an expanded ''Pseudovespicula''. The genus name ''Pseudovespicula'' combines ''pseudo'', meaning "false", with the genus name ''Vespicula'', which is a diminutive of ''Vespa'', meaning wasp. ''P. dracaena'' was previously included in ''Vespicula''.

Species

''Pseudovespicula'' includes the following 3 species: * '' Psuedovespicula cypho'' Fowler, 1938 * '' Pseudovespicula dracaena''

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1829 (Draco waspfish) * '' Pseudovespicula zollingeri'' (

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

only includes ''P. dracaena'' in ''Pseudovespicula'' and retains 3 species in ''Vespicula'': ''V. cypho'', ''V. trachinoides'' and ''V. zollingeri''.

Characters

''Pseudovepicula'' waspfishes are characterised by their bodies being covered in small cycloid scales and there are no cirri or papillae. There is 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 ...

. None of the fin rays in the pectoral fin are detached. The origin of the dorsal fin is to the rear of the rear edge of the orbit. They have an oblique dorsal profile to the head with a large mouth which is nearly a third of the length of the head and a flattened nape. The dorsal fin has its origin is pin front of the edge of the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

, is continuous with a deep notch, nearly reaching the base, in the membrane between the third and fourth dorsal-fin spines. There is no spine on the cleithrum. These are small fishes with the draco waspfish being the largest with a maximum total length of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14193578 Tetraroginae Ray-finned fish genera