Lepidotrigla is a
genus of marine
ray-finned fishes belonging to the
familyTriglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. These gurnards are found in the Eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.
Taxonomy
Lepidotrigla was first described as a genus in 1860 by the German-born British
herpetologist and
ichthyologistAlbert Günther with Trigla aspera, which had been
described in 1829 from the Mediterranean Sea by
Georges Cuvier,[2] as the
type species. The genus is
classified within the
subfamilyTriglinae, the nominate subfamily of the family Triglidae.[1] The genus name prefixes Trigla, the type genus of the Triglidae. with lepido, "scaled", a reference to the larger scales on these gurnards in comparison to those on Trigla.[3]
Species
Lepidotrigla is the most speciose genus in the Triglidae[4] and has 58 species classified within it:[5][2]
Lepidotrigla gurnards are characterised by having the 3 lower rays of the pectoral fin free of the fin membrane and a scaled tail, like the other Triglid gurnards. The bucklers, bony plate at the base of the dorsal fin spines and rays, have with sharp spines on their rears along the whole length of both first and seconddorsal fins.[6] The groobe behind the eyes of these fishes may be complete, running from one side of the head to the other, or there may be just a furrow behind each eye. There are large,
ctenoid scales on the body, although some species have
cycloid scales on the belly. There are fewer tha than 70 scales in the
lateral line. There may, or may not be
vomerine teeth.[7] These relatively small grnards vary in size from the smallest, the spotwing gurnard (L. spiloptera) with a maximum published
total length of 10 cm (3.9 in), to the scalebreast gurnard (L. cadmani) and L. microptera, both having maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in).[5]
Distribution
Lepidotrigla gurnards are found in the tropical and warm temperate waters of the eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans, with one species L. jimjoebob being found as far east as the
Line Islands in the eastern central Pacific.[5]
^Del Cerro L & D. Lloris (1997). Séret, B. (ed.). "Gurnard Fishes (Scorpaeniformes, Triglidae) from off New Caledonia, with description of five new species". Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (N. S.) (Série A) Zoologie. Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, v. 17. 174: 91–124.
External links
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