''Zaniolepis'', the combfishes, is a genus 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 ...

, it is one of two genera in 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 ...

Zaniolepididae. These fishes are native to the eastern

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 ...

. ''Z. frenata'' that was a source of food to the Native American inhabitants of San Nicolas Island off the coast of southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States during the

Middle Holocene In the geologic time scale, the Northgrippian is the middle one of three ages or stages of the Holocene Epoch or Series. It was officially ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2018 along with the earlier Greenlandian ...

.Vellanoweth, R. L. & Erlandson, J. M. (1999):
Middle Holocene Fishing and Maritime Adaptations at CA-SNI-161, San Nicolas Island, California.
''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 21(2): pp. 257-274''

Taxonomy

''Zaniolepis'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

in 1858 by the French

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Charles Frédéric Girard Charles Frédéric Girard (8 March 1822 – 29 January 1895) was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology. Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, as a student of Louis Agassiz. In ...

when he described ''Z. longispinis'' from Fort Steilacoom on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. This genus is one of two genera in the family Zaniolepidae, each of which is classified within a monotypic subfamily. The subfamily Zaniolepinae, along with the

Oxylebiinae The painted greenling (''Oxylebius pictus'') is a marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zaniolepididae, which includes this species and the combfishes. It is endemic to the northeast Pacific Ocean. It is the only species in the genus ' ...

, haves been classified as two subfamilies in the

Hexagrammidae Hexagrammidae, the greenlings, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Cottoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Hexagrammidae was first proposed as a family i ...

Etymology

''Zaniolepis'' is a combination of ''xanion'', which is a Greek word for a comb used to card wool, and ''lepis'', meaning "scale", referring to the overlapping, almost ctenoid scales of ''Z. latipinnis''.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

Characteristics

''Zaniolepis'' combfishes have a deep incision in the rear third their

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 ...

and the first 3 spines in the dorsal fin are highly elongated, extremely so in ''Z. latipinnis''. The

anal 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 se ...

contains 3 spines while the first 2 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 ...

s are long and robust and extend past the origin of the anal fin. The caudal fin truncated. These fishes reach a amximum length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Zaniolepis'' combfishes are found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California. They are benthic fishes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q425791 Zaniolepididae Pleistocene fish Scorpaeniformes genera Pleistocene fish of North America Extant Pleistocene first appearances