Lepidotrigla
Lepidotrigla is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, 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 ichthyologist Albert Günther with Trigla aspera, which had been described in 1829 from the Mediterranean Sea by Georges Cuvier, as the type species. The genus is classified within the subfamily Triglinae, the nominate subfamily of the family Triglidae. 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.
Characteristics
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. The groove 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. These relatively small grnards vary in size from the smallest, the spotwing gurnard with a maximum published total length of, to the scalebreast gurnard and L. microptera, both having maximum published total length of.
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.
Species
Lepidotrigla is the most speciose genus in the Triglidae and has 58 species classified within it:Lepidotrigla abyssalis D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904Lepidotrigla alata Lepidotrigla alcocki Regan, 1908Lepidotrigla annamarae del Cerro & Lloris, 1997Lepidotrigla argus J. D. Ogilby, 1910 Lepidotrigla argyrosoma Fowler, 1938Lepidotrigla bentuviai Richards & Saksena, 1977 Lepidotrigla bispinosa Steindachner, 1898 Lepidotrigla brachyoptera F. W. Hutton, 1872 Lepidotrigla cadmani Regan, 1915 Lepidotrigla calodactyla J. D. Ogilby, 1910 Lepidotrigla carolae Richards, 1968 Lepidotrigla cavillone Lepidotrigla deasoni Herre & Kauffman, 1952Lepidotrigla dieuzeidei Blanc & Hureau, 1973 Lepidotrigla eydouxii Sauvage, 1878Lepidotrigla faurei Gilchrist & W. W. Thompson, 1914 Lepidotrigla firmisquamis Prokofiev & Yato, 2020Lepidotrigla grandis J. D. Ogilby, 1910 Lepidotrigla guentheri Hilgendorf, 1879Lepidotrigla hime Matsubara & Hiyama, 1932Lepidotrigla japonica Lepidotrigla jimjoebob Richards, 1992Lepidotrigla kanagashira Kamohara, 1936Lepidotrigla kishinouyi Snyder, 1911Lepidotrigla larsoni del Cerro & Lloris, 1997 Lepidotrigla lepidojugulata S. Z. Li, 1981Lepidotrigla longifaciata Yato, 1981Lepidotrigla longimana S. Z. Li, 1981Lepidotrigla longipinnis Alcock, 1890Lepidotrigla macracaina Gomon & Kawai 2018Lepidotrigla macrobrachia Fowler, 1938Lepidotrigla maculapinna Gomon & Kawai 2018Lepidotrigla marisinensis Lepidotrigla microptera Günther, 1873Lepidotrigla modesta Waite, 1899 Lepidotrigla mulhalli W. J. Macleay, 1884 Lepidotrigla multispinosa J. L. B. Smith, 1934 Lepidotrigla musorstom del Cerro & Lloris, 1997Lepidotrigla nana del Cerro & Lloris, 1997Lepidotrigla oglina Fowler, 1938Lepidotrigla omanensis Regan, 1905 Lepidotrigla papilio Lepidotrigla pectoralis Fowler, 1938Lepidotrigla pleuracanthica J. Richardson, 1845 Lepidotrigla psolokerkos Gomon & Psomadakis, 2018Lepidotrigla punctipectoralis Fowler, 1938 Lepidotrigla robinsi Richards, 1997Lepidotrigla russelli del Cerro & Lloris, 1995 Lepidotrigla sayademalha Richards, 1992Lepidotrigla sereti del Cerro & Lloris, 1997Lepidotrigla spiloptera Günther, 1880 Lepidotrigla spinosa Gomon, 1987 Lepidotrigla tanydactyla Gomon & Kawai 2018Lepidotrigla umbrosa J. D. Ogilby, 1910 Lepidotrigla vanessa Lepidotrigla vaubani del Cerro & Lloris, 1997Lepidotrigla venusta Fowler, 1938