Prionotinae is a subfamily of

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a laye ...

, 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 ...

es, part of 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 ...

Triglidae. The fishes in this subfamily are called sea robins and are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, the other two Triglid subfamilies are called gurnards.

Taxonomy

Prionotinae was first proposed as a subfamily in 1873 by the German naturalist

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kau ...

. It 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 ...

within the family Triglidae, part of the suborder Platycephaloidei within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Scorpaeniformes. Prionotinae is regarded as the basal grouping within the family Triglidae.

Etymology

The name of the subfamily is derived from what was its only genus at the time of its delineation by Kaup, ''Prionotus''. This name is a compound of ''prion'', “saw”, and ''notus'', “back”, as Lacépède saw three free dorsal spines when he was describing 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( ...

'' P. evolans'' but these were probably the result of damage to the specimen. The common names, sea robin, comes from the orange ventral surface of the species in the genus '' Prionotus'', and from large

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s which resemble a bird's wings.

Genera

Prionotinae contains the following 2 genera: * ''

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 * '' Prionotus''

Lacépède Lacepede can refer to: * Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756–1825), French naturalist and politician. * Lacepede Bay, a bay in South Australia. * Lacépède, Lot-et-Garonne, a ''commune'' in France * Lacepede Islands, a group of four islands in t ...

, 1801

Characteristics

Prionotinae sea robins are separated from the other Triglid subfamilies by the lateral line not being forked on the caudal peduncle, having 26 vertebrae and the ligament, called Baudelot’s ligament, has its origin on the skull. The largest species is the lumptail sea robin ('' Prionotus stephanophrys'') which has a maximum published

total 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 ...

of and the smallest is the '' Bellator ribeiroi'' at in maximum published total length.

Distribution and habitat

Prionnotinae sea robins are found off the coasts of the Americas in the eastern Pacific and Western Atlantic Oceans, down to depths of . They are demersal fish of sandy bottoms in shallow waters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q112185037 Triglidae Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup Fish subfamilies