''Sebastapistes'' 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 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 hor ...

belonging to the

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

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. The fishes in this genus are found in the

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 ...

Taxonomy

''Sebastapistes'' was first described as a genus in 1877 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 ...

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histor ...

, Gill included 3 species within the new genus and in 1898

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

Barton Warren Evermann Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist. Early life and education Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...

designated ''Scorpaena strongia'' which 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 with its type locality given as

Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few near ...

in the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

, as 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 ...

. This genus is classified within the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Scorpaenini Scorpaenini is a tribe of marine ray-finned fishes, one of two tribes in the subfamily Scorpaeninae. This tribe contains the "typical" or "true" scorpionfishes. The taxonomy of the scorpionfishes is in some flux, the 5th Edition of Fishes of the W ...

, in 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 ...

Scorpaeninae Scorpaeninae is a subfamily of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes, it includes the scorpionfishes, the lionfishes and turkeyfishes. They bear venomous spines in the anal, dorsal and pelvic fins which ...

of the family Scorpaenidae. The etymology of the genus name ''Sebastapistes'' was not explained by Gill, it may be that ''Sebast-'' is derived from ''Sebastichthys'' (a subgenus of Sebastes), which was previously a genus ''S. cyanostigma'' was classified in, or a reference to sebastin fishes in general; ''apistes'' is ''apistus'' which means "untrustworthy" or "perfidious", as these fishes are not a true rockfishes but are “intermediate between the Sebastoid and Scorpaenoid genera”.

Species

The 11 recognized species in this genus are: * '' Sebastapistes ballieui'' ( Sauvage, 1875) (Spotfin scorpionfish) * '' Sebastapistes coniorta'' O. P. Jenkins, 1903 (Humpback nohu) * '' Sebastapistes cyanostigma'' (

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Sebastapistes fowleri'' ( Pietschmann, 1934) (Pygmy scorpionfish) * ''

Sebastapistes galactacma ''Sebastapistes'' is a genus of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Sebas ...

'' O. P. Jenkins, 1903 (Galactacma scorpionfish) * '' Sebastapistes mauritiana'' (Cuvier, 1829) (Spineblotch scorpionfish)

* '' Sebastapistes nuchalis'' Günther, 1874 * '' Sebastapistes perplexa'' Motomura, Aizawa & Endo, 2014 * '' Sebastapistes strongia'' (G. Cuvier, 1829) (Barchin scorpionfish) * '' Sebastapistes taeniophrys'' ( Fowler, 1943) * '' Sebastapistes tinkhami'' (Fowler, 1946) (Darkspotted scorpionfish) Sebastapistes tinkhami Réunion

Some authorities consider that ''S. nuchalis'' is a

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 ...

of ''S. strongia'' and that '' Scorpaena pascuensis'' should be included within ''Sebastapistes''.

Characteristics

''Sebastapistes'' scorpionfishes are characterised by there being 12 spines in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

, having teeth on the

palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

and byhaving the rear lacrimal spine being directed diagonally downwards. The pored scales in 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 ...

continue on to the

caudal peduncle 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 se ...

and they do not have a deep occipital pit. There are species in the deepwater scorpionfish genus ''

Neomerinthe ''Neomerinthe'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. They are found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Neomerinthe'' was first described as a genus in 1935 by the American ...

'' which share these characteristics with this genus but have different patterns of spines and scales on their heads, differing

meristics Meristics is an area of ichthyology and herpetology which relates to counting quantitative features of fish and reptiles, such as the number of fins or scales. A meristic (countable trait) can be used to describe a particular species of fish, or us ...

and by living in deep water. The size of these small scorpionfishes varies from 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 in ''S. taeniophrys'' up to in ''S. ballieui''.

Distribution and habitat

''Sebastapistes'' scorpionfishes are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from East Africa to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

. They are mostly species of shallow, tropical coastal waters but two species ''S. strongia'' and ''S. perplexa'' extend to temperate waters off Japan.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2005582 Scorpaenini Venomous fish Marine fish genera Taxa named by Theodore Gill