Sebastinae is a subfamily of marine fish 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 ...

in the order

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320. They are ...

. Their common names include rockfishes, rock perches, ocean perches, sea perches, thornyheads, scorpionfishes, sea ruffes and rockcods. Despite the latter name, they are not closely related to the

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

s in the genus ''

Gadus ''Gadus'' is a genus of demersal fish in the family Gadidae, commonly known as cod, although there are additional cod species in other genera. The best known member of the genus is the Atlantic cod. Species Today, three species in the genus ar ...

'', nor the

rock cod The rock cod (''Lotella rhacina'') is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern Australia, Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and northwards up the southwestern Australia coasts. They are also found around the coasts of New Zealand ...

, ''

Lotella rhacina The rock cod (''Lotella rhacina'') is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern Australia, Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and northwards up the southwestern Australia coasts. They are also found around the coasts of New Zealand ...

''.

Taxonomy

Sebastinae, or Sebastidae, was first formally recognised as a grouping 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. Kaup ...

. Some authorities recognise this family as distinct from

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.

, a

finfish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...

database generated by a consortium of academic institutions, does, but the United States Federal government's

Integrated Taxonomic Information System The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

and 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 ...

'' do not, FotW classify it as a subfamily of the Scorpaenidae.

Tribes and genera

Sebastinae is divided into two

tribes 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 is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

and seven

genera 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 nomenclat ...

: * Tribe

Sebastini Sebastini is a tribe of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae of the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes. Taxonomy Sebastini was first formally recognised as a grouping in 1873 by the German naturalist Johann ...

Kaup, 1873 ** ''

Helicolenus ''Helicolenus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Scorpaenidae where they are classified within the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes. The species in this genus are found in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans ...

'' Goode &

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

, 1896 ** ''

Hozukius ''Hozukius'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae within the family Scorpaenidae. They are native to the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Hozukius'' was described as a monotypic genus in 1934 by the ...

'' Matsubara, 1934 ** ''

Sebastes ''Sebastes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae part of the family Scorpaenidae, most of which have the common name of rockfish. A few are called ocean perch, sea perch or redfish instead. They are found i ...

'' Cuvier, 1829 ** ''

Sebastiscus ''Sebastiscus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae part of the family Scorpaenidae. These fishes are native to the western Pacific Ocean. They are collectively called sea ruffes and resemble the rockfishe ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

& Starks, 1904 * Tribe

Sebastolobini Sebastini is a tribe of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae of the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes. Many species have the common name thornyhead. Taxonomy Sebastolobini was first formally recognised as ...

Matsubara, 1943 ** '' Adelosebastes'' Eschmeyer, T. Abe & Nakano, 1979 ** ''

Sebastolobus ''Sebastolobus'', the thornyheads, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. These fishes are native to the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean. They are generally ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1881 ** ''

Trachyscorpia ''Trachyscorpia'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. The species in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Taxonomy ''Trachyscorp ...

'' Ginsburg, 1953

Characteristics

Sebastinae species have a compressed body with the head typically having ridges and spines. The gill membranes are not attached to the isthmus. There is a venom gland in the spines of the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...

and

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 ...

s. The largest species is the

shortraker rockfish The shortraker rockfish (''Sebastes borealis'') is an offshore, demersal species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. It is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonom ...

('' Sebastes borealis'') which attains a maximum

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 while the smallest species is ''

Sebastes koreanus ''Sebastes koreanus'', the Korean rockfish, is a subtropical marine fish distributed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean near South Korea. It usually lives at a depth of around 20 meters. It is demersal and oviparous Oviparous animals are animals ...

'' which reaches a maximum total length of .

Distribution and habitat

Sebastinae rockfishes are found in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans with most species in the largest genus, the

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

''Sebastes'' with over 100 species, in the North Pacific. They can be found in marine and brackish waters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1313107 Scorpaenidae Venomous fish Ovoviviparous fish Marine fish families Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup