Dusky velvetfish

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Dusky velvetfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Aploactinidae
Genus: Aploactis
Temminck & Schlegel, 1843
Species:
A. aspera
Binomial name
Aploactis aspera
Synonyms[1]
  • Synanceia aspera Richardson, 1845

The dusky velvetfish (Aploactis aspera) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a velvetfish belonging to the family Aploactinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Aploactis. This species is found in the western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

The dusky velvetfish was first formally described in 1843 as Synanceia aspera by the Scottish naval surgeon, Arctic explorer and naturalist John Richardson with the type locality given as "Seas of Japan", the type being collected during the voyage of HMS Sulphur.[2] In 1843 Temminck and Schlegel had described a new subgenus of the stonefish genus Synanceia, Aploactis, and Richardson had named his new species this subgenus. Subsequently, only the dusky velvetfish was retained within Aploactis and this was eventually recognised as a valid genus and Richardson had designated S. aspera as its type species in 1844.[3] This taxon is classified within the family Aploactinidae in the suborder Scorpaenoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes,[4] although this family is also treated as a subfamily of the stonefish family Synanceiidae[5][6] within the Scorpaenoidei, which in turn is treated as a superfamily within the order Perciformes.[7] The name of the genus, Aploactis is a compound of "haplo" meaning "single" or "simple", and actis, meaning "ray", presumed to refer to the simple, unbranched soft rays of the fins. the specific name aspera means "rough", an allusion to the velvety prickles in the ody of this fish.[8]

Description

The dusky velvetfish has an elongate, compressed body. There are 2 blunt lacrimal spines, 5 preopercular spines with the smallest being the lowest. It has vomerine teeth. The origin of the dorsal fin origin is over the rear margin of the eye. The head and body are covered with prickles which are under the skin. The colour of the body is light brown to dark brown marked with small white and dark spots.[9] There are 13 or 14 spines and 11 to 15 soft rays in the dorsal fin and a single spine and between 11 and 14 soft rays in the anal fin. The maximum published total length for the dusky velvetfish is 10 cm (3.9 in). [1]

Distribution and habitat

The dusky velvetfish is found in the Western Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Indian Ocean where it has been recorded from Japan, China, New Caledonia and Australia, [1][9][10] In Australia it is found from Shark Bay to Rowlet Shoals in Western Australia and from Cape York in Queensland to Sydney in New South Wales.[11] The demersal species is found in inshore waters of the continental shelf on sandy or mud bottoms in shallow waters.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Aploactis aspera" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  2. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Aploactis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Aploactininae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  4. ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 468–475. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  5. ^ Smith, W. Leo; Smith, Elizabeth; Richardson, Clara (February 2018). "Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Flatheads, Scorpionfishes, Sea Robins, and Stonefishes (Percomorpha: Scorpaeniformes) and the Evolution of the Lachrymal Saber". Copeia. 106 (1): 94–119. doi:10.1643/CG-17-669.
  6. ^ Willingham, AJ (13 April 2018). "Stonefish are already scary, and now scientists have found they have switchblades in their heads". CNN.
  7. ^ Ricardo Betancur-R; Edward O. Wiley; Gloria Arratia; et al. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17 (162): 162. doi:10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3. PMC 5501477. PMID 28683774.
  8. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (10 March 2022). "Order Perciformes (Part 10): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Families Apistidae, Tetrarogidae, Synanceiidae, Aploacrinidae, Perryenidae, Eschmeyeridae, Pataecidae, Gnathanacanthidae, Congiopodidae and Zanclorhynchidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Aploactis aspera Dusky Velvetfish". Malaysia Biodiversity Information System. Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Malaysia Biodiversity Centre & Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  10. ^ Gerald R. Allen (2020). A Field Guide to Tropical Reef Fishes of the Indo-Pacific: Covers 1,670 Species in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines (with 2,000 illustrations). Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1462921881.
  11. ^ Bray, D.J. (2019). "Aploactis aspera". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
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