Scalicus

Scalicus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Peristediidae, the armoured gurnards or armored searobins. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Scalicus
Scalicus amiscus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Peristediidae
Genus: Scalicus
D. S. Jordan, 1923
Type species
Peristedion amiscus
Synonyms[1]

Taxonomy

Scalicus was first described as a monotypic genus in 1923 by the American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan with the newly described Peristedion amiscus, designated as its type species.[1] Within the family Peristediidae there are 2 clades, this genus is in the clade consisting of 5 genera, with the nominate genus Peristedion in the other clade.[2] Jordan did not explain the genus name's etymology but it may be from skallo meaning "hoe", an allusion top the shovel shaped snout of the type species.[3]

Species

Scalicus currently has 8 recognised species within it:[4]

Some authorities recognise 6 valid species, treating S. amiscus as a junior synonym of S. hains and both S. gilberti and S, investigatoris as a junior synonyms of S. engyceros.[5]

Characteristics

Scalicus armoured gurnards have no teeth in the upper jaw, a smooth lateral margin of the head. The rear pairs of the lower lateral rows of scutes are not joined to each other, The lower jaw has barbels which are not branched, apart from the rearmost barbels on the lip and chin. The number of soft rays in the second dorsal fin and the anal fin both exceed 19.[6] The smallest of these fishes is S. quadratorostratus which has a maximum published standard length of 14.9 cm (5.9 in) while the largest is S. engyceros which has a maximum published total length of 32 cm (13 in).[4]

Distribution and habitat

Scalicus armoured gurnards are demersal, deep water fishes which are found in the Indian Ocean from the eastern costa of Africa to Hawaii.[7][8]

References
  1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Peristediinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  2. Toshio Kawai (2008). "Phylogenetic Systematics of the Family Peristediidae (Teleostei: Actinopterygii)". Species Diversity. 13 (1): 1–34. doi:10.12782/specdiv.13.1.
  3. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (26 June 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 12): Suborder Triglioidei: Families Triglidae and Peristediidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Scalicus in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  5. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Scalicus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  6. Dianne J. Bray (2019). "Scalicus". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  7. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Scalicus investigatoris" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  8. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Scalicus gilberti" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
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