Order KURTIFORMES (Nurseryfishes and Cardinalfishes)

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v. 13.0 – 9 May 2022  view/download PDF

2 families · 43 genera/subgenera · 382 species

Family KURTIDAE Nurseryfishes

Kurtus Bloch 1786    latinization of kyrtos, curved or humped, referring to gibbous back in front of dorsal fin                                          

Kurtus gulliveri Castelnau 1878    in honor of “Mr. Gulliver,” who collected type, probably Thomas Allen Gulliver (1847-1931), a post and telegraph worker who collected natural history specimens near his home on the Norman River, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia (type locality)                           

Kurtus indicus Bloch 1786    Indian, referring to Indian Ocean, type locality


Family APOGONIDAE Cardinalfishes
42 genera/subgenera · 376 species

Subfamily APOGONINAE

Apogon Lacepède 1801    a-, without; pogon, beard, presumed to be a mullet without chin barbels (type species, A. imberbis, is sometimes known as “king of the mullets”)

Apogon americanus Castelnau 1855    American, described from Bahia, Brazil, only member of genus then known from the “waters of America” (translation)

Apogon atradorsatus Heller & Snodgrass 1903    atra, black; dorsatus, high-backed, presumably referring to black distal half of second dorsal fin

Apogon atricaudus Jordan & McGregor 1898    ater, black; cauda, tail, referring to “dusky” caudal fin

Apogon aurolineatus (Mowbray 1927)    auro-, gold; lineatus, lined, referring to eight “well marked” golden stripes on sides

Apogon axillaris Valenciennes 1832    axillary, referring to black spot at base of pectoral fin

Apogon binotatus (Poey 1867)    bi-, two; notatus, marked, referring to a thin dark-brown bar at end of second dorsal-fin base and another on the caudal peduncle

Apogon campbelli Smith 1949    in honor of George Gordon Campbell (1893-1977), South African physician and naturalist, “an active worker in the cause of marine biology” (he was instrumental in establishing the South African Marine Biological Association)

Apogon caudicinctus Randall & Smith 1988    cauda, tail; cinctum, girdle or belt, referring to broad blackish bar across posterior caudal peduncle and base of caudal fin, its most diagnostic color marking

Apogon ceramensis Bleeker 1852    ensis, suffix denoting place: Ceram (now Seram), Indonesia, type locality (occurs from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the Philippines)

Apogon coccineus Rüppell 1838    scarlet, referring to its ruby-red, semi-transparent body in life

Apogon crassiceps Garman 1903    crassus, thick; ceps, head, referring to its “large, thick” head

Apogon dammermani Weber & de Beaufort 1929    in honor of Dutch zoologist Karel Willem Dammerman (1885-1951), Director, Zoological Museum of Buitenzorg (Java), who loaned the authors the ichthyological collections under his charge, including type of this species

Apogon deetsie Randall 1998    in honor of Edith “Deetsie” Chave, Associate Director of the Honolulu Aquarium, who helped collect type, for her research on the ecology of apogonid fishes of the Hawaiian Islands [a noun in apposition without the matronymic “ae”]

Apogon dianthus Fraser & Randall 2002    Dianthus, a genus of plants, some with pink flowers, referring to pink body color in life

Apogon doryssa (Jordan & Seale 1906)    wielding a lance, referring to “very strong, flat, and sabre-like” dorsal-fin spine

Apogon dovii Günther 1862    in honor John Melmoth Dow (1827-1892), Panama Railroad Company, ship captain and amateur naturalist, who presented type to the British Museum [“w” latinized as a “v”]

Apogon erythrinus Snyder 1904    inus, adjectival suffix: erythros, red, referring to its bright reddish color

Apogon erythrosoma Gon & Randall 2003    erythros, red; soma, body, referring to its transparent reddish-pink coloration in life

Apogon fugax Gon, Bogorodsky, Mal & Alpermann 2020    Latin for elusive, referring to how it avoided discovery despite intensive collecting efforts in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean

Apogon gouldi Smith-Vaniz 1977    in honor of Edwin Jay Gould (1932-1993), real estate investor, wildlife conservationist and angler, sponsor of the Bermuda Expedition (1975), during which type was collected, for his participation in and support of ichthyological expeditions of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Apogon hypselonotus Bleeker 1855    hypselo-, high; notus, back, referring to its angular humped back (“dorso elevato angulato”)

Apogon imberbis (Linnaeus 1758)    beardless, presumed to be a mullet without chin barbels (sometimes known as “king of the mullets”)

Apogon indicus Greenfield 2001    Indian, referring to Indian Ocean type locality, and where it is the only member of the A. erythrinus complex

Apogon kautamea Greenfield & Randall 2004    from the Old Rapanui language of Easter Island, combining ‘kua’ta (transparent) and mea (red), referring to its transparent red coloration

Apogon kominatoensis Ebina 1935    ensis, suffix denoting place: tidepools at Kominato, Chiba, Japan, type locality

Apogon lachneri Böhlke 1959    in honor of Ernest A. Lachner (1916-1996), curator of fishes at the U.S. National Museum, for his published work on Pacific apogonids and his continuing study of cardinalfishes on a worldwide basis

Apogon lativittatus Randall 2001    latus, broad; vittatus, striped or banded, referring to broad blackish midlateral stripe on body and caudal fin, wider on average than that of A. semiornatus

Apogon leptocaulus Gilbert 1972    leptos, fine or slender; caulus, stem or stalk, referring to unusually slender caudal peduncle

Apogon maculatus (Poey 1860)    spotted, referring to black opercular spot, round black spot beneath second dorsal fin, and large black blotch in front of caudal peduncle

Apogon marquesensis Greenfield 2001    ensis, suffix denoting place: Marquesas Islands, where it is endemic

Apogon mosavi Dale 1977    acronym for Mount Saint Vincent, recognizing the College of Mt. St. Vincent’s (Riverdale, New York, USA) annual summer course in marine biology, conducted in the Bahamas (type locality)

Apogon pacificus (Herre 1935)    icus, belonging to: referring to type locality in the Eastern Pacific of the Galapagos Islands

Apogon phenax Böhlke & Randall 1968    imposter, referring to similarity in general appearance to the related A. planifrons

Apogon pillionatus Böhlke & Randall 1968    provided with a pillion (a light posterior passenger saddle), referring to broad dusky marking over caudal peduncle

Apogon planifrons Longley & Hildebrand 1940    planus, flat; frons, forehead, referring to its depressed head and snout

Apogon posterofasciatus Allen & Randall 2002    postero-, posterior; fasciatus, banded, referring to a broad dusky bar at caudal-fin base

Apogon pseudomaculatus Longley 1932    pseudo-, false, i.e., although similar and closely related to A. maculatus, such an appearance is false

Apogon quadrisquamatus Longley 1934    quadri-, four; squamatus, scaled, referring to how all scales are ctenoid except for four in a median row before first dorsal fin and anterior in submedian row on either side

Apogon retrosella (Gill 1862)    retro, back; sella, saddle, referring to saddle-like band under second dorsal fin

Apogon robbyi Gilbert & Tyler 1997    in honor of C. Richard (“Robby”) Robins (1928-2020), University of Miami, a “leading authority” on the evolution, taxonomy, and biology of freshwater and marine fishes, particularly those of the eastern North America and western Atlantic regions

Apogon robinsi Böhlke & Randall 1968    in honor of C. Richard Robins (b. 1928), University of Miami, for his “important” contributions to knowledge of West Atlantic fishes and his assistance during the authors’ apogonid study

Apogon rubellus (Smith 1961)    reddish, referring to its “brilliant” color in life (uniform brown in alcohol)

Apogon rubrifuscus Greenfield & Randall 2004    ruber; red; fuscus, dark colored, referring to red body color overlaid by black pigment on posterior 2/3 of body

Apogon seminigracaudus Greenfield 2007    semi-, half; niger, black; caudus, tail, referring to black pigment on lower half of caudal fin

Apogon semiornatus Peters 1876    semi-, half; ornatus, decorated, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to broad reddish-brown stripe that extends halfway across body, from snout through anal-fin base

Apogon soloriens Yoshida & Motomura 2020    Latin for rising sun, referring to reddish-orange body color in life

Apogon susanae Greenfield 2001    in honor of Susan G. Mondon, scientific illustrator, Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii, who prepared many illustrations for Greenfield, including the ones in the paper in which this species was described

Apogon talboti Smith 1961    in honor of fisheries scientist Frank Talbot (b. 1930), South African Museum, who sent many “valuable” specimens to Smith, including type of this species, which he may have acquired by “bombing? at coral” (question mark in Smith’s text)

Apogon townsendi (Breder 1927)    in honor of Charles H. Townsend (1859-1944), Breder’s “chief” at the New York Aquarium

Apogon tricinctus (Allen & Erdmann 2012)    tri-, three; cinctus, belt, referring to three dark bands on middle of body

Apogon unicolor Steindachner & Döderlein 1883    uni-, one, presumably referring to uniform coloration, i.e., lacking the brown bars of A. bifasciatus (=Apogonichthyoides taeniatus), with which it had been confused

Apogonichthyoides Smith 1949    oides, having the form of: presumably similar to Apogonichthys but with truncated (instead of rounded) caudal fin

Apogonichthyoides atripes (Ogilby 1916)    atri-, black; pes, foot, referring to its black ventral fins (dorsal and anal fins also black) [replacement name for Apogon nigripes Ogilby 1911, preoccupied by Apogon (now Ostorhinchus) nigripes Playfair 1867]

Apogonichthyoides brevicaudatus (Weber 1909)    brevis, short; caudatus, tailed, referring to short (in length) but tall (in height) caudal peduncle

Apogonichthyoides cantoris (Bleeker 1851)    is, genitive singular of: Danish naturalist Theodor Edvard Cantor (1809-1860), for his contributions to the knowledge of fishes from the Strait of Malacca

Apogonichthyoides cathetogramma (Tanaka 1917)    catheto-, perpendicular or upright; gramma, line, presumably referring to two indefinite broad, dark crossbands on sides of body, both directing “downward and forward” (translation)

Apogonichthyoides chrysurus (Ogilby 1889)    chryso-, gold; oura, tail, referring to “brilliant orange” basal third of caudal fin

Apogonichthyoides enigmaticus Smith 1961    obscure or mysterious, reflecting Smith’s hesitation to describe it as new in view of the poor condition of the only specimen he has, and his failure to locate others

Apogonichthyoides erdmanni Fraser & Allen 2011    in honor of marine biologist Mark V. Erdmann (b. 1968), Conservation International, Indonesia Marine Program, who collected and photographed type; he has worked closely with the second author and is responsible for numerous new discoveries, resulting from his deep scuba collections around the East Indian region

Apogonichthyoides euspilotus (Fraser 2006)    eu-, very or well; spilotus, marked, referring to multiple darkish spots on body

Apogonichthyoides gardineri (Regan 1908)    in honor of British zoologist John Stanley Gardiner (1872-1946), who collected many species of Indian Ocean fishes for the British Museum, including type of this one

Apogonichthyoides heptastygma (Cuvier 1828)    hepta, seven; stygma, mark, referring to two black spots on tail and five black spots at base of dorsal fin (these latter spots usually diffuse into aggregates of several small melanophores) [often incorrectly spelled heptastigma]

Apogonichthyoides maculipinnis (Regan 1908)    maculatus, spotted; pinnis, fin, referring to small dark spots on anal, ventral and soft dorsal fins, and numerous dark “dots” on caudal fin

Apogonichthyoides melas (Bleeker 1848)    black, referring to black body and fin coloration

Apogonichthyoides miniatus Fraser 2010    bright red or cinnabar red, referring to general coloration of head, body and fins

Apogonichthyoides niger (Döderlein 1883)    black, referring to color of dorsal, ventral and anal fins

Apogonichthyoides nigripinnis (Cuvier 1828)    niger, black; pinnis, fin, referring to black dorsal and anal fins

Apogonichthyoides opercularis (Macleay 1878)    presumably referring to “margaritaceous patch with a black patch above it” on operculum

Apogonichthyoides pharaonis (Bellotti 1874)    is, genitive singular of: pharao, presumably referring to type locality in the Gulf of Suez, Suez, Egypt

Apogonichthyoides pseudotaeniatus (Gon 1986)    pseudo-, false, i.e., although similar in appearance to and previously identified as A. taeniatus, such an appearance is false

Apogonichthyoides regani (Whitley 1951)    in honor of ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan (1878-1943), Natural History Museum (London), who described this species as Apogon punctatus in 1908 but used a preoccupied name (A. punctatus [now Vincentia punctata] Klunzinger 1879)

Apogonichthyoides sialis (Jordan & Thompson 1914)    Greek for plump, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to deep body, nearly equal in depth to length of head

Apogonichthyoides taeniatus (Cuvier 1828)    banded, referring to longitudinal brown bars on sides

Apogonichthyoides timorensis (Bleeker 1854)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Timor Island (Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia, eastern Indian Ocean), type locality

Apogonichthyoides umbratilis Fraser & Allen 2010    shady, retired or private, referring to its observed cryptic behavior, sheltering between rocks and rubble at least during daylight hours

Apogonichthyoides uninotatus (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    uni-, one; notatus, marked, referring to round blackish blotch midway between lateral line and pectoral fin

Apogonichthys Bleeker 1854    ichthys, fish, closely related to Apogon

Apogonichthys ahimsa Whitley 1959    Sanskrit term meaning nonviolence or non-injury, allusion not explained but clearly evoked in Whitley’s suggested vernacular name: Gentle Gobbleguts

Apogonichthys landoni Herre 1934    in honor of Maj. Robert Roberts Landon (1873-1938), an engineer who came to Cebu, Philippines, during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) and Herre’s friend, “to whose co-operation I am greatly indebted” [placed in Foa by some workers]

Apogonichthys ocellatus (Weber 1913)    having little eyes, referring to ocellus (eyespot) on first dorsal fin

Apogonichthys perdix Bleeker 1854    partridge, presumably referring to its mottled brown color

Apogonichthys waikiki Jordan & Evermann 1903    named for Waikiki, Oahu Island, Hawaiian Islands, type locality

Archamia Gill 1863    archos, anus, i.e., having more anal-fin rays than Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Archamia bleekeri (Günther 1859)    in honor of Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878), who provisionally identified this species as Apogon macropterus (=Taeniamia macroptera) in 1851

Astrapogon Fowler 1907    aster, star, referring to star-like spots (with silver centers) on A. stellatus, proposed as a subgenus of Apogon

Astrapogon alutus (Jordan & Gilbert 1882)    unwashed, presumably referring to body and fins “everywhere much soiled and freckled with dark points”

Astrapogon puncticulatus (Poey 1867)    dotted, referring to body and fins (except pelvic) heavily stippled with black dots

Astrapogon stellatus (Cope 1867)    starry, referring to series of dark brown spots on edges of scales of each row (except lateral line), each with a silver center

Cercamia Randall & Smith 1988    kerkos, tail, referring to elongate tail resulting from unique vertebral count with one fewer abdominal and one more caudal vertebrae than other cardinalfishes; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Cercamia cladara Randall & Smith 1988    frail or easily broken, referring to its deciduous scales and weak fin spines

Cercamia eremia (Allen 1987)    solitary, referring to its cryptic, solitary habits, in contrast to the sympatric Verulux cypselurus and Rhabdamia gracilis, which occur in aggregations

Cercamia laamu Fraser, Bogorodsky, Mal & Alpermann 2021    named for Laamu, one of the islands making up the Hadhdhunmathee (Haddhunmathi) Atoll, Maldives, type locality

Cercamia mascarene Fraser, Bogorodsky, Mal & Alpermann 2021    named for Mascarene, geographic area in southwestern Indian Ocean where Rodrigues Island (only known area of occurrence) is situated

Cercamia melanogaster Allen, Erdmann & Mahardini 2015    melanos, black; gaster, belly, referring to its black abdomen, “the most conspicuous colour pattern feature of this otherwise mainly transparent fish”

Cercamia spio Fraser, Bogorodsky, Mal & Alpermann 2021    named for Spio, a mythical sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris, the Nereid of sea caves, referring to its usually being seen in the vicinity of a cave, at depths of 10-30 m

Cheilodipterus Lacepède 1801    cheilos, lip, referring to extensible upper lip; di-, two and pterus, fin, referring to two dorsal fins

Cheilodipterus alleni Gon 1993    in honor of ichthyologist Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), who collected type specimens and recognized their uniqueness

Cheilodipterus arabicus (Gmelin 1789)    Arabian, described from the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia (no types known)

Cheilodipterus artus Smith 1961    compressed or close together, presumably referring to how its stripes are closer together compared to C. lineatus

Cheilodipterus heptazona Bleeker 1849    hepta, seven; zona, belt or girdle, referring to seven (actually 8-9) longitudinal stripes on body

Cheilodipterus intermedius Gon 1993    intermediate, referring to its “close relationship” with C. alleni, C. artus and C. macrodon, combining characters of these species

Cheilodipterus isostigmus (Schultz 1940)    iso-, equal; stigma, mark, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to black spot at midbase of caudal-fin rays, which appears to be equal in size to its similarly black eyes

Cheilodipterus lachneri Klausewitz 1959    in honor of Ernest A. Lachner (1916-1996), curator of fishes at the U.S. National Museum, who studied the closely related C. arabicus and C. lineatus (both of which had been confused with this species) and worked out the essential differences between them

Cheilodipterus lineatus Lacepède 1801    lined, referring to 7-10 dark-brown stripes on body [a senior synonym of C. macrodon, but the latter name may be retained due to prevailing usage; both names included here pending ICZN ruling]

Cheilodipterus macrodon (Lacepède 1802)    macro-, long or large; odon, teeth, referring to single row of long, sharp teeth on each jaw, longer than villiform teeth of presumed congeners in Centropomus (Carangiformes: Centropomidae) [a junior synonym of C. lineatus but may be retained due to prevailing usage; both names included here pending ICZN ruling]

Cheilodipterus nigrotaeniatus Smith & Radcliffe 1912    nigro-, black; taeniatus, banded, referring to four black longitudinal stripes in life

Cheilodipterus novemstriatus (Rüppell 1838)    novem, nine; striatus, striped, referring to one longitudinal stripe from above orbit to end of second dorsal fin, and four pairs of stripes on each side, for a total of nine

Cheilodipterus octovittatus Cuvier 1828    octo-, eight; vittatus, banded, referring to eight blackish longitudinal stripes from region of eye to black spot on tail

Cheilodipterus parazonatus Gon 1993    para-, near, referring to its similar color pattern with that of C. zonatus

Cheilodipterus persicus Gon 1993    Persian, referring to Persian Gulf, where it appears to be endemic

Cheilodipterus pygmaios Gon 1993    Greek for dwarf, referring to small adult size, up to 50 mm SL, smallest in the genus

Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus Cuvier 1828    quinque, five; lineatus, lined, referring to five narrow dark-brown stripes on body

Cheilodipterus singapurensis Bleeker 1860    ensis, suffix denoting place: Singapore, type locality (occurs from Singapore and Malaysia to Marshall Islands, south to New Caledonia)

Cheilodipterus subulatus Weber 1909    subulate (slender and tapering to a point), presumably referring to its “lancet-like” (translation) canine teeth

Cheilodipterus zonatus Smith & Radcliffe 1912    banded, referring to black stripe around snout through eye to below end of lateral line, a less distinct stripe from above eye to upper caudal-fin base, and trace of a median stripe in front of dorsal fin

Fibramia Fraser & Mabuchi 2014    fibra, thread or filament, referring to elongate second dorsal-fin spine of F. thermalis and narrow, pale or dark mid-line on bodies of F. amboinensis and F. lateralis; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Fibramia amboinensis (Bleeker 1853)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Ambon Island, Molucca Islands, Indonesia, type locality

Fibramia lateralis (Valenciennes 1832)    of the side, presumably referring to fine black line running from shoulder to middle of tail

Fibramia thermalis (Cuvier 1829)    Latin for hot spring, referring to occurrence in the warm springs of Cania, Sri Lanka (type locality)

Foa Jordan & Evermann 1905    apparently a latinization of , Samoan name for cardinalfishe

Foa brachygramma (Jenkins 1903)    brachy, short; gramme, line, referring to short lateral line, comprising an anterior portion of ~10 tubes below front of second dorsal fin and a posterior portion of “very rudimentary tubes” at base of caudal fin

Foa fo Jordan & Seale 1905    , Samoan name for cardinalfishes [at just five characters, the shortest binomen of any Recent fish species]

Foa hyalina (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    glassy or transparent, referring to its “hyalin pearl” ground color in life

Foa leisi Fraser & Randall 2011    in honor of Jeffrey M. Leis (b. 1949), Australian Museum (Sydney), who led larval-fish research in atolls in French Polynesia, showing that Foa and other reef fishes can complete their development within lagoons

Foa longimana Weber 1909    longus, long; manus, hand, referring to long pectoral fins, almost as long as body height

Foa madagascariensis Petit 1931    ensis, suffix denoting place: off Sarodrano, Tuléar, Madagascar, type locality (also occurs off Tanzania and Mauritius)

Foa nivosa Fraser & Randall 2011    snowy, referring to numerous whitish spots on body

Foa winterbottomi Fraser 2020    in honor of ichthyologist Richard Winterbottom (b. 1944), Royal Ontario Museum, who has collected and photographed many species of apogonids and is one of the authors of extensive checklists of fishes from Chagos Archipelago

Foa yamba Fraser 2014    Australian aboriginal name of uncertain meanings, one of which refers to a kind of oyster, the other to the headland near the river mouth, which is the name of the city at the mouth of the Clarence River, New South Wales, type locality

Fowleria Jordan & Evermann 1903    ia, belonging to: ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler (1878-1965), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and a student of Jordan’s at Stanford University

Fowleria amblyuroptera (Bleeker 1853)    amblys, blunt; oura, tail; ptera, finned, presumably referring to blunt and convex shape of caudal fin

Fowleria aurita (Valenciennes 1831)    eared, referring to black spot, surrounded by a circle of silver, on operculum

Fowleria flammea Allen 1993    fire, referring to red color pattern in life

Fowleria isostigma (Jordan & Seale 1906)    iso-, equal; stigma, mark, presumably referring to large distinct spots on body, about one on each scale, arranged in regular lines

Fowleria marmorata (Alleyne & Macleay 1877)    marbled, referring to reddish-yellow body “transversely marbled with brown”

Fowleria polystigma (Bleeker 1854)    poly-, many; stigma, mark or spot, presumably referring to blackish-brown dots on scales

Fowleria punctulata (Rüppell 1838)    diminutive of punctum, spot, i.e., dotted, referring to many “closely packed bouquet-green dots” on body (translation)

Fowleria vaiulae (Jordan & Seale 1906)    in honor of Vaiula, a Samoan fisherman at Apia, Upolu Island, Samoa Islands, type locality

Fowleria variegata (Valenciennes 1832)    variable or variegated, referring to reddish body color mottled with “varied cloudy spots” (translation)

Glossamia Gill 1863    glossa, tongue, referring to small patch of teeth on tongue of G. aprion; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Glossamia abo (Herre 1935)    local name for this fish at Koragu, Sepik River, New Guinea (type locality)

Glossamia aprion (Richardson 1842)    a-, without; prion, saw, referring to “total absence of serrations” on preoperculum

Glossamia arguni Hadiaty & Allen 2011    named for type locality, freshwater streams in the Arguni Bay region of West Papua Province, Indonesia

Glossamia beauforti (Weber 1907)    in honor of Weber’s colleague Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort (1879-1968), University of Amsterdam, who illustrated this species while participating in the Dutch North New Guinea Expedition (1903), during which type was collected

Glossamia gillii (Steindachner 1867)    patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of American zoologist Theodore Gill (1837–1914), Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.)

Glossamia gjellerupi (Weber & de Beaufort 1929)     in honor of Danish health officer Knud Gjellerup (1876-1950), who collected fishes for Weber and de Beaufort (but it is not clear if he collected this one)

Glossamia heurni (Weber & de Beaufort 1929)    in honor of Dutch zoologist Willem Cornelis van Heurn (1887-1972), who collected fishes for Weber and de Beaufort in New Guinea (but it is not clear if he collected this one)

Glossamia narindica Roberts 1978    nares, nostril; indica, India, as in India ink, referring to large, well-defined, intensely black spot immediately ventrolateral to posterior nostril (Tyson R. Roberts, pers. comm.)

Glossamia sandei (Weber 1907)    in honor of Dutch army physician and anthropologist Gijsbert van der Sande (1863-1910), who participated in the Dutch North New Guinea Expedition (1903), during which type was collected

Glossamia timika Allen, Hortle & Renyaan 2000    named for the Timika region of Papua, Indonesia, where it occurs

Glossamia trifasciata (Weber 1913)    tri-, three; fasciata, banded, referring to three transverse bands: between first dorsal and ventral fins, second dorsal and anal fins, and end of caudal peduncle

Glossamia wichmanni (Weber 1907)    in honor of German geologist-mineralogist Carl Ernst Arthur Wichmann (1851-1927), who participated in the Dutch North New Guinea Expedition (1903), during which type was collected

Jaydia Smith 1961    etymology not explained nor evident

Jaydia albomarginata (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    albus, white; marginata, edged or bordered, referring to white margins on ventral and anal fins, and distinct white lower edge on caudal fin

Jaydia argyrogaster (Weber 1909)    argyros, silver; gaster, belly, referring to subcutaneous silver luster on abdomen (which Weber did not realize is a bioluminescent organ)

Jaydia carinata (Cuvier 1828)    keeled or ridged, referring to a succession of small hulls on scales

Jaydia catalai (Fourmanoir 1973)    in honor of René Catala (1901-1988), director of the biological station at Nouméa, New Caledonia, who collected type

Jaydia ellioti (Day 1875) in honor of British naturalist Walter Elliot (1803-1887), “formerly of the Madras Civil Service, who most liberally placed at my disposal the whole of his beautiful and accurate coloured illustrations of the Fishes of Madras and Waltair which he had had executed by native artists from the fresh specimens,” including an illustration of this species

Jaydia erythrophthalma Gon, Liao & Shao 2015    erythros, red; opthalmos, eye, referring to its reddish-orange iris

Jaydia fuscomaculata (Allen & Morrison 1996)    fuscus, dusky; maculatus, spotted, referring to 3-4 rows of large, irregular brown spots on sides

Jaydia heraldi (Herre 1943)    in honor of ichthyologist Earl S. Herald (1914-1973), an “able and enthusiastic student of pipefishes” (although, of course, this species is not a pipefish)

Jaydia hungi (Fourmanoir & Do-Thi 1965)    in honor of Nguyen Dinh Hung, former director of the Vietnamese Oceanographic Institute, who hired the authors to study the fishes in the Institute’s collection, which included type of this species

Jaydia lineata (Temminck & Schlegel 1843)    lined, referring to 8-10 brownish vertical lines on body

Jaydia melanopus (Weber 1911)    melanos, black; pous, foot, referring to black pelvic fins

Jaydia novaeguineae (Valenciennes 1832)    of New Guinea, type locality (occurs in Indo-Pacific from Philippines and Papua New Guinea, west to Madagascar and the southern Red Sea; also reported from Kenya)

Jaydia photogaster (Gon & Allen 1998)    photo-, light; gaster, belly, referring to its “ventral bioluminescent system”

Jaydia poeciloptera (Cuvier 1828)    poecilio-, varicolored; ptera, finned, referring to spots at base of second dorsal fin

Jaydia quartus (Fraser 2000)    fourth, referring to the longest of its seven first-dorsal fin spines

Jaydia queketti (Gilchrist 1903)    patronym not identified, probably in honor of conchologist John Frederick Whitlie Quekett (1849-1913), curator of the Durban Natural History Museum (South Africa)

Jaydia smithi (Kotthaus 1970)    in honor of ichthyologist J. L. B. Smith (1897-1968), for his 1961 monograph on the apogonids of the Indian Ocean (in which this genus was proposed)

Jaydia striata (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    striped, referring to 10 “bistre” (brown-yellow) bands crossing body

Jaydia striatodes (Gon 1997)    odes, having the form of: referring to close resemblance of its color pattern to J. striata

Jaydia tchefouensis (Fang 1942)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Chefoo (Tche-Fou, now known as Yantai), Shantung Province, China, type locality

Jaydia truncata (Bleeker 1855)    named for its truncated caudal fin compared to most of its presumed congeners in Apogon

Lachneratus Fraser & Struhsaker 1991    atus, having the nature of: Ernest A. Lachner (1916-1996), i.e., Lachnerian, Curator Emeritus of fishes at the U.S. National Museum, for his contributions to the systematics of Indo-West Pacific cardinalfishes

Lachneratus phasmaticus Fraser & Struhsaker 1991    phantom-like, referring to its “elusive phantomlike nature” (known from single specimens collected in 1964 and 1974, its identity proved elusive until more specimens were located in 1982 and 1983)

Lepidamia Gill 1863    lepid, scale, i.e., having more lateral line scales than Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Lepidamia kalosoma (Bleeker 1852)    kallos, beauty; soma, body, referring to how its golden body is “very beautifully marked” (translation) with two wider and several narrower longitudinal bands

Lepidamia multitaeniata (Cuvier 1828)    multi-, many; taeniatus, banded, referring to multiple brown longitudinal lines on pink body

Lepidamia natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    ensis, suffix denoting place: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, southwestern Indian Ocean, type locality

Lepidamia omanensis (Gon & Mee 1995)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Indian Ocean off Oman, where it appears to be endemic

Neamia Smith & Radcliffe 1912    neo-, new; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family i.e., a new Amia

Neamia articycla Fraser & Allen 2006    artios, complete or perfect; cyclus, circle, referring to dark spot on opercle, its edge forming a complete or perfect circle

Neamia notula Fraser & Allen 2001    diminutive of nota, mark, referring to spot on opercle

Neamia octospina Smith & Radcliffe 1912    octo-, eight; spina, spine, referring to eight first-dorsal fin spines, compared to seven on Fowleria

Neamia xenica Fraser 2010    strange, referring to its depth of capture more than twice as deep as any other species of Neamia

Nectamia Jordan 1917    etymology not explained, perhaps nectes, swimmer, allusion not evident (Nectamia are not particularly strong swimmers); Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Nectamia annularis (Rüppell 1829)    circular, referring to silver-colored ring around pupil of eye and/or broad black-brown “ring” at base of tail

Nectamia bandanensis (Bleeker 1854)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Banda Neira (Banda Islands, Indonesia), type locality

Nectamia fusca (Quoy & Gaimard 1825)    dusky, dark or swarthy, referring to its brown body color

Nectamia ignitops Fraser 2008    ignitus, glowing (of a fire); ops, eye, referring to color of iris

Nectamia luxuria Fraser 2008    Latin for profusion, referring to its numerous pale bars

Nectamia savayensis (Günther 1872)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Savay (now Savai‘i) Island, Samoa, type locality

Nectamia similis Fraser 2008    like, referring to pale bars on body similar to N. luxuria, and saddles and caudal mark similar to N. bandanensis

Nectamia viria Fraser 2008    Latin for bracelet, referring to band around caudal peduncle

Nectamia zebrina (Fraser, Randall & Lachner 1999)    zebra-like, referring to “somewhat variable” dark and light bars on body

Ostorhinchus Lacepède 1802    osteo-, bone; rhynchus, snout, referring to bony jaws of O. fleurieu, very much advanced and jagged, taking the place of teeth

Subgenus Ostorhinchus

Ostorhinchus angustatus (Smith & Radcliffe 1911)    narrowed, probably referring to “narrower” interorbital and/or “narrower” stripes compared to Amia robusta (=O. cookii)

Ostorhinchus aphanes Fraser 2012    obscure, referring to difficulty of identifying this species without carefully examining premaxillary and dentary teeth

Ostorhinchus apogonoides (Bleeker 1856)    oides, having the form of: Apogon, i.e., related to that genus

Ostorhinchus aroubiensis (Hombron & Jacquinot 1853)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Aroub, Malaysia, type locality

Ostorhinchus aterrimus (Günther 1867)    very black, referring to its entirely uniform deep-black coloration

Ostorhinchus atrogaster (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    atro-, black; gaster, belly, referring to its “jet black” stomach

Ostorhinchus aureus (Lacepède 1802)    gold, referring to its “golden copper-red” color (translation)

Ostorhinchus brevispinis (Fraser & Randall 2003)    brevis, short; spina, thorn, referring to “tiny” first dorsal-fin spine

Ostorhinchus bryx (Fraser 1998)    depth of the sea, referring to relatively deep water (146-155 m) from which it was collected

Ostorhinchus capricornis (Allen & Randall 1993)    is, genitive singular of: Capricorn Group of islands, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, where most known specimens occur

Ostorhinchus cavitensis (Jordan & Seale 1907)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Cavite, Luzon Island, Philippines, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from Western Australia to Queensland and New South Wales, Indonesia north to Philippines and Viêt Nam)

Ostorhinchus chalcius (Fraser & Randall 1986)    copper or bronze, referring to coloration in life, “bronze, becoming coppery on head and base of caudal fin”

Ostorhinchus cheni (Hayashi 1990)    in honor of Jen-Ping Chen, Institute of Zoology of Academia Sinica, for his studies on the apogonids of Taiwan; he also loaned specimens for study

Ostorhinchus chrysopomus (Bleeker 1854)    chrysos, gold; poma, lid or cover, referring to orange spots on cheek of adults

Ostorhinchus chrysotaenia (Bleeker 1851)    chrysos, gold; taenia, band, referring to golden lines or bands running from head to tail (in juveniles)

Ostorhinchus cladophilos (Allen & Randall 2002)    klados, branch; philos, loving, referring to its habit of sheltering among branches of antipatharian and alcyonarian corals as well as sea urchins

Ostorhinchus compressus (Smith & Radcliffe 1911)    named for its “strongly compressed” body

Ostorhinchus cookii (Macleay 1881)    patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of James Cook (1728-1779), British explorer, navigator, cartographer and naval captain, who named the type locality (Endeavour River, Queensland, Australia) after his ship, HMS Endeavour, when he was forced to beach it there for repairs in 1770

Ostorhinchus cyanosoma (Bleeker 1853)    cyano-, blue; soma, body, referring to blue-tinged body color in life (with six orange-yellow stripes)

Ostorhinchus cyanotaenia (Bleeker 1853)    cyano-, blue; taenia, band, referring to blue longitudinal streaks on head

Ostorhinchus dispar (Fraser & Randall 1976)    unlike or different, referring to its unusual shape (somewhat compressed) and body color (semi-transparent pinkish with a narrow reddish midlateral stripe from tip of snout ending in a large red spot on caudal peduncle) compared to presumed congeners in Apogon

Ostorhinchus diversus (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    different, a “trim little fish [that] appears to be quite distinct from related forms, distinguishable by its coloration and deep, compressed body”

Ostorhinchus doederleini (Jordan & Snyder 1901)    in honor of German zoologist Ludwig Döderlein (1855-1936), formerly connected with the Imperial University at Tokyo, for his “assiduous” work on the fishes of Japan

Ostorhinchus elizabethae (Jordan & Seale 1905)    a “pretty” species named in honor of Miss Elizabeth Putnam (no other information available) for her “deep interest in biological research”

Ostorhinchus endekataenia (Bleeker 1852)    endeka, eleven; taenia, band, referring to 11 blackish longitudinal bands on body

Ostorhinchus fasciatus (Shaw 1790)    banded, referring to longitudinal brown bands on body

Ostorhinchus flagelliferus Smith 1961    flagellum, whip; fero, to bear, referring to its “usually” filamentous second dorsal-fin ray

Ostorhinchus flavus (Allen & Randall 1993)    yellow, referring to the color that covers most of its body

Ostorhinchus fleurieu Lacepède 1802    in honor of “celebrated” colleague and friend Charles Pierre Claret, comte de Fleurieu (1738-1810), French explorer and hydrographer, “for his [published] works, which have enriched navigators, geographers and naturalists, and especially for his recently published and beautiful” Nomenclature of the Oceans (translations) [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]

Ostorhinchus franssedai (Allen, Kuiter & Randall 1994)    in honor of Franciscus “Frans” Seda (1926-2009), Indonesian politician, government minister, and owner of Flores Sao Wisata Resort (near outer Maumere Bay, Flores, Indonesia, type locality), who encouraged the study of Maumere Bay fishes and provided logistical support during the authors’ visits

Ostorhinchus fukuii (Hayashi 1990)    in honor of Syojiro Fukui, Japan Ichthyological Society, who collected type

Ostorhinchus griffini (Seale 1910)    in honor of herpetologist Lawrence Edmonds Griffin (1874-1949), who collected type

Ostorhinchus gularis (Fraser & Lachner 1984)    of the throat or gullet, referring to position of anus, which approaches the thoracic region

Ostorhinchus hartzfeldii (Bleeker 1852)    in honor of German physician Joseph Hartzfeld (1815-1885), Principal Medical Officer of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, whose collections, Bleeker said, improved the scientific knowledge of Ambon Island’s fish fauna

Ostorhinchus hoevenii (Bleeker 1854)    in honor of Bleeker’s Dutch colleague, zoologist Jan van der Hoeven (1801-1868)

Ostorhinchus holotaenia (Regan 1905)    holo-, entire; taenia, band, referring to black bands on body, one of which runs entire length of body, from tip of snout through eye and along middle of side to end of caudal fin (in contrast to shorter bands on the similar O. fasciatus)

Ostorhinchus ishigakiensis (Ida & Moyer 1974)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Ishigaki-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, type locality

Ostorhinchus jenkinsi (Evermann & Seale 1907)    in honor of Oliver Peebles Jenkins (1850-1935), physiology professor, Stanford University, who also worked as an ichthyologist

Ostorhinchus kiensis (Jordan & Snyder 1901)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Wakanoura, Kii Province (now Wakayama Prefecture), Japan, type locality (“one of the richest collecting grounds for fishes yet known in any part of the world”)

Ostorhinchus komodoensis (Allen 1998)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Rinca Island, Komodo Island Group, Indonesia, type locality

Ostorhinchus leptofasciatus (Allen 2001)    leptos, thin; fasciatus, banded, referring to narrow black stripes on upper body

Ostorhinchus leslie Schultz & Randall 2006    in honor of Leslie Whaylen (b. 1970), aquatic scientist and environmental planner, who discovered this species while diving, realized it was undescribed, and persisted in making sure specimens and photographs were obtained [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Ostorhinchus limenus (Randall & Hoese 1988)    from the Greek limen, harbor or refuge, referring to its frequent occurrence in harbors and bays

Ostorhinchus lineomaculatus (Allen & Randall 2002)    lineo-, line; maculatus, spotted, referring to narrow black stripe along middle of side and large black spot at base of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus luteus (Randall & Kulbicki 1998)    yellow, referring to its coloration in life

Ostorhinchus maculiferus (Garrett 1864)    macula, spot; fero, to bear, referring to longitudinal rows of small olivaceous spots on upper 2/3 of body

Ostorhinchus margaritophorus (Bleeker 1855)    margarita, pearl; phoros, bearer, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to row of white spots between midlateral reddish stripes

Ostorhinchus melanoproctus (Fraser & Randall 1976)    melanos, black; proctus, anus, referring to black pigment that completely surrounds anus

Ostorhinchus microspilos (Allen & Randall 2002)    micro-, small; spilos, spot, referring to unusually small dark spot at midbase of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus moluccensis (Valenciennes 1832)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Molucca (Maluku) Islands, Indonesia, type locality (occurs in the Indo-West Pacific: Andaman Islands, Indonesia, north to Taiwan, east to Solomon Islands)

Ostorhinchus monospilus (Fraser, Randall & Allen 2002)    mono-, one; spilos, spot, referring to single whitish or yellowish spot behind posterior base of second dorsal fin in life

Ostorhinchus multilineatus (Bleeker 1874)    multi-, many, lineatus, lined, referring to numerous narrow, dark-brown stripes on body

Ostorhinchus mydrus (Jordan & Seale 1905)    a lump of metal, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its bluish-black color in spirits

Ostorhinchus nanus (Allen, Kuiter & Randall 1994)    dwarf, referring to small size, up to 30 mm SL

Ostorhinchus nigripes (Playfair 1867)    nigro-, black; pes, foot, referring to black pelvic fins

Ostorhinchus nigrocincta (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    nigro-, black; cinctum, belt or girdle, presumably referring to a “narrow black girdle” that encircles caudal peduncle at base of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus nigrofasciatus (Lachner 1953)    nigro-, black; fasciatus, banded, referring to five horizontal black stripes

Ostorhinchus norfolcensis (Ogilby 1888)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Norfolk Island (between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia), type locality

Ostorhinchus notatus (Houttuyn 1782)    marked, referring to a round jet-black spot on each side of nape and at base of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus noumeae (Whitley 1958)    of Nouméa, New Caledonia, type locality

Ostorhinchus novemfasciatus (Cuvier 1828)    novem, nine; fasciatus, banded, referring to nine black longitudinal bands, one on back, three on each side, and two under the body

Ostorhinchus ocellicaudus (Allen, Kuiter & Randall 1994)    ocellus, eyespot; caudus, tail, referring to large ocellated black spot covering most of caudal-fin base

Ostorhinchus oxina (Fraser 1999)    Greek for rake or harrow, referring to vertical bars on side reaching stripe on upper body

Ostorhinchus oxygrammus (Allen 2001)    oxy, sharp; grammus, line, referring to intense black stripe from edge of eye to end of caudal-fin rays, tapering to a point on caudal fin

Ostorhinchus pallidofasciatus (Allen 1987)    pallidus, pale; fasciatus, striped, referring to “faint, nearly indistinguishable” pattern of 4-6 stripes on sides

Ostorhinchus pallidus Allen & Erdmann 2017    pale, referring to overall color pattern, in contrast with its similar but more vividly patterned relative O. lineomaculatus

Ostorhinchus pleuron (Fraser 2005)    rib, referring to dark rib-like markings extending below mid-line stripe on body

Ostorhinchus properuptus (Whitley 1964)    etymology not explained, perhaps prope, near, and ruptus, break, referring to yellow stripes on head and body, the first stripe running half-way along posterior dorsal-fin rays, “broken up” into a row of dark patches on the membranes

Ostorhinchus pselion (Randall, Fraser & Lachner 1990)    Greek for anklet or bracelet, referring to a ring of black around posterior caudal peduncle, its most distinctive color marking

Ostorhinchus quinquestriatus (Regan 1908)    quinque, five; striatus, striped, referring to dorsal, ventral and three lateral stripes across body

Ostorhinchus radcliffei (Fowler 1918)    in honor of ichthyologist-malacologist Lewis Radcliffe (1880-1950), scientific assistant for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, who studied the cardinalfishes of the Philippines

Ostorhinchus regula (Fraser & Randall 2003)    pattern, referring to a re-occurring pattern of alternating three broad (darker) stripes and three (lighter) narrow stripes on caudal peduncle (a pattern shared with many dark-striped congeners)

Ostorhinchus relativus (Randall 2001)    related or akin to, referring to its similarity to O. angustatus, a common, wide-ranging species in the Indo-Pacific, but not found in the Marquesas, where this species occurs

Ostorhinchus rubrimacula (Randall & Kulbicki 1998)    ruber, red; macula, mark or spot, referring to red spot at base of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus rueppellii (Günther 1859)    patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of explorer-naturalist Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884), who described several apogonids in his 1828-30 work on Red Sea fishes

Ostorhinchus schlegeli (Bleeker 1855)    in honor of ornithologist-herpetologist Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884), author, along with Coenraad Jacob Temminck, of the Fauna Japonica monograph series (1833-1850), in which this species was reported as Apogon (now Ostorhinchus) novemfasciatus

Ostorhinchus sealei (Fowler 1918)    in honor of ichthyologist Alvin Seale (1871-1958), Stanford University, for his work on Philippine fisheries

Ostorhinchus selas (Randall & Hayashi 1990)    Greek for light, flash or meteor, referring to Japanese common name, Nagareboshi, which means “shooting star”

Ostorhinchus semilineatus (Temminck & Schlegel 1843)    semi-, partial; lineatus, lined, presumably referring to blackish line on upper part of body that extends from head to just beyond origin of second dorsal fin

Ostorhinchus septemstriatus (Günther 1880)    septem, seven; striatus, striped, referring to three well-defined narrow black streaks on each side, and a seventh stripe running along median line of head and nape

Ostorhinchus sinus (Randall 2001)    recess or bay, referring to its being found only in well-protected bays

Ostorhinchus spilurus (Regan 1905)    spilos, spot; oura, tail, referring to blackish spot on each side at base of caudal fin

Ostorhinchus taeniophorus (Regan 1908)    taenia, ribbon; phorus, bearer, referring to four dark longitudinal stripes on sides

Ostorhinchus unitaeniatus (Allen 1995)    uni-, one; taeniatus, banded, referring to relatively narrow midlateral brown stripe from upper edge of preopercle to base of caudal fin, tapering in width posteriorly

Ostorhinchus urostigmus (Bleeker 1874)    oura, tail; stigmus, mark, referring to large brown spot on tail above lateral line [placed in Pristiapogon by some workers]

Ostorhinchus victoriae (Günther 1859)    of Victoria, type locality, referring to Province of Victoria, a name given in the 1840s to a large area between Perth and Carnarvon in Western Australia

Ostorhinchus wassinki (Bleeker 1861)    in honor of Geerlof Wassink (1811-1864), Dutch physician and military officer, chief of the medical service in the Dutch East Indies (based on Bleeker’s description of Homalopteroides wassinkii [Cypriniformes: Balitoridae], Wassink may have sent or made type available)

Ostorhinchus wilsoni (Fowler 1918)    in honor of botanist William Powell Wilson (1844-1927), Director, Commercial Museums of Philadelphia, who made his institution’s collection of Philippine fishes available to Fowler

Ostorhinchus yamato Yoshida, Hayashi & Motomura 2018    early historic name for Japan, referring to its currently being known only from Japanese waters

Subgenus Brephamia Jordan 1922    brephos, fetus, embryo or babe, referring to small size (and perhaps juvenile appearance) of the neotenic O. parvulus; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Ostorhinchus neotes (Allen, Kuiter & Randall 1994)    youth, referring to juvenile appearance of this neotenic species

Ostorhinchus parvulus (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    diminutive of parvus, small, referring to its size (described at 3.9 cm in length)

Ozichthys Fraser 2014    Oz, colloquial English name for Australia, referring to restricted distribution to tropical marine waters of Australia and southern New Guinea; ichthys, fish

Ozichthys albimaculosus (Kailola 1976)    albus, white; maculatus, spotted, referring to distinctive rows of large white spots on body

Paroncheilus Smith 1964    etymology not explained, perhaps paron, a small, light ship, allusion not evident; cheilus, lip, perhaps referring to presumed relationship (based on pattern of dentition) to Cheilodipterus and/or fleshy knob at apex of chin

Paroncheilus affinis (Poey 1875)    related, i.e., allied to Cheilodipterus macrodon, its presumed congener at the time

Phaeoptyx Fraser & Robins 1970    phaios, brown; ptyx, fold, referring to two important characters of the genus: brown color and posteroventral fleshy flap on preopercle

Phaeoptyx conklini (Silvester 1915)    in honor of American embryologist Edwin Grant Conklin (1863-1952)

Phaeoptyx pigmentaria (Poey 1860)    having dots or points, referring to small black dots on body, most distinct on jaws and cheeks

Phaeoptyx xenus (Böhlke & Randall 1968)    guest, stranger or foreigner, referring to its habit of living in sponges

Pristiapogon Klunzinger 1870    pristis, saw, referring to serrated preopercular ridge of P. fraenatus; proposed as a subgenus of Apogon

Pristiapogon abrogramma (Fraser & Lachner 1985)    abro-, repeal or evade; gramma, line, referring to faint lateral line

Pristiapogon exostigma (Jordan & Starks 1906)    exo-, out; stigma, mark, presumably referring to conspicuous round black spot on caudal peduncle at base of caudal-fin rays

Pristiapogon fraenatus (Valenciennes 1832)    bridled, referring to black lateral band that extends through eye and across muzzle, connecting to band on opposite side

Pristiapogon kallopterus (Bleeker 1856)    kallos, beauty; pterus, fin, presumably referring to yellow anterior margin on first dorsal fin

Pristiapogon menesemus (Jenkins 1903)    mene, moon or crescent; semus, mark, referring to “crescent-shaped” black band at base of caudal fin

Pristiapogon taeniopterus (Bennett 1836)    taenio-, band; pterus, fin, referring to black band on upper and lower margins of caudal fin

Pristicon Fraser 1972    pristis, saw, referring to serrated bones on head; icon, likeness, referring to similarity with Pristiapogon

Pristicon rhodopterus (Bleeker 1852)    rhodo-, rosy; pterus, presumably referring to its “red and orange” (translation) fins (which appear pale to slightly dusky to us)

Pristicon rufus (Randall & Fraser 1999)    reddish, referring to its ground color in life

Pristicon trimaculatus (Cuvier 1828)    tri-, three; maculatus, spotted, referring to three clusters of black spots, one under each dorsal fin and a third one on tail

Pterapogon Koumans 1933    ptera, fin, presumably referring to long dorsal, anal and caudal fins; Apogon, type genus of family

Pterapogon kauderni Koumans 1933    in honor of Swedish herpetologist Walter Kaudern (1881-1942), who collected type

Quinca Mees 1966    etymology not explained, perhaps a latinization of the Spanish quince, 15, referring to 15 rays on second dorsal fin (one spine and 14 soft rays)

Quinca mirifica (Mees 1966)    wonderful or strange (i.e., different), showing “aberrant characters,” namely, having 14 soft rays in second dorsal fin whereas other apogonids known at the time have 10

Rhabdamia Weber 1909    rhabdos, rod, stick or staff, referring to long and numerous (~22) gill rakers of R. clupeiformis; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), which this genus resembles

Subgenus Rhabdamia         

Rhabdamia gracilis (Bleeker 1856)    slender, referring to its slender and elongate (for an apogonid) body

Rhabdamia novaluna Yoshida,Mabuchi & Motomura 2018    nova, new; luna, moon, referring to subdermal black blotch or spot on lower caudal peduncle

Rhabdamia spilota Allen & Kuiter 1994    spot or mark, referring to distinctive spot above pectoral fin

Subgenus Bentuviaichthys Smith 1961    in honor of Adam Ben-Tuvia (1919-1999), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who provided type of R. nigrimentum and declined Smith’s invitation to describe it; ichthys, fish

Rhabdamia nigrimentum (Smith 1961)    nigri-, black; mentum, chin, referring to “conspicuously black” tip of lower jaw

Siphamia Weber 1909    siphon, tube, referring to silvery dusky tubiform gland of S. tubifer, running from beneath tongue, along lower sides of body, past vent, almost to caudal-fin base (later discovered to be bioluminescent); Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Siphamia arabica Gon & Allen 2012    Arabian, referring to Arabian Peninsula collecting locations (Oman and United Arab Emirates) of the type specimens

Siphamia argentea Lachner 1953    silvery, referring to its lateral body color

Siphamia arnazae Allen & Erdmann 2019    in honor of the junior author’s wife Arnaz Mehta, who discovered this fish while diving in December 2016

Siphamia brevilux Gon & Allen 2012    brevis, short; lux, light, referring to length of light organ, the shortest for the genus and an essential character for separating this species from its nearest relatives

Siphamia cephalotes (Castelnau 1875)    latinization of the Greek kephalotos, headed, presumably referring to its prominent head, “not contained three times” in TL

Siphamia corallicola Allen 1993    icola, dweller or inhabitant, i.e., coral dwelling, referring to its habitat

Siphamia cuneiceps Whitley 1941    cuneus, wedge; ceps, head, referring to wedge-shaped head

Siphamia cyanophthalma Gon & Allen 2012    cyano, blue; opthalmus, eye, referring to pair of blue stripes through eye, an excellent field character for its recognition

Siphamia elongata Lachner 1953    elongate, referring to its “comparatively slender” body

Siphamia fistulosa (Weber 1909)    full of pipes (i.e., tubes), referring to 11-13 tubed lateral-line scales

Siphamia fraseri Gon & Allen 2012    in honor of Thomas H. Fraser, Mote Marine Laboratory (Sarasota, Florida), for his numerous contributions to our knowledge of apogonid systematics

Siphamia fuscolineata Lachner 1953    fuscus, dark; lineata, lined, referring to dark brown stripes on body

Siphamia goreni Gon & Allen 2012    in honor of Menachem Goren, Tel-Aviv University (Israel), who collected type, for his contribution to our knowledge of Red Sea fishes

Siphamia guttulata (Alleyne & Macleay 1877)    diminutive of guttata, dotted, referring to silvery body “speckled all over with minute black dots”

Siphamia jebbi Allen 1993    in honor of botanist Matthew Jebb (b. 1958), Director, Christensen Research Institute (Madang Province, Papua New Guinea), for lab equipment, boats, diving assistance, and funding for Allen’s research

Siphamia majimai Matsubara & Iwai 1958    in honor of shell collector Toyohiko Majima, who helped the authors with their ichthyological collections at Ankyaba and Urasokari (type locality), Amami Oshima Island, Japan

Siphamia mossambica Smith 1955    ica, belonging to: Mozambique, western Indian Ocean, type locality

Siphamia papuensis Gon, Allen, Erdmann & Gouws 2014    ensis, suffix denoting place: West Papua Province, Indonesia, type locality

Siphamia permutata Klausewitz 1966    Latin for altered or changed, presumably referring to how it changes colors when chased and captured, and/or to “very different” (translation) coloration between living and preserved specimens

Siphamia randalli Gon & Allen 2012    in honor of John E. Randall (1924-2020), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), for his “numerous and noteworthy” contributions to our knowledge of reef-fish taxonomy, and “a genuine inspiration to everyone in the field of ichthyology”; moreover, his Siphamia collections and specimen photographs, including of this species, formed an essential part of the authors’ revision

Siphamia roseigaster (Ramsay & Ogilby 1887)    roseus, rosy; gaster, belly, referring to “roseate” lower part of body

Siphamia senoui Gon & Allen 2012    in honor of Hiroshi Senou, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History, who, in collaboration with various Japanese colleagues, is largely responsible for a marked increase in our knowledge of tropical reef fishes occurring in southern Japan and the adjacent Ryukyu Archipelago; he also collected and photographed holotype and most paratypes of this species

Siphamia spinicola Gon & Allen 2012    spina, spine; –cola, dweller or inhabitant, referring to its habit of living among the spines of echinoderms

Siphamia stenotes Gon & Allen 2012    narrowest, referring to its dark body stripes, which are the narrowest of any of the striped species in the genus

Siphamia tubifer Weber 1909    tubus, tube; fero, to bear, referring to tube-like prolongation of body cavity continued at both side along lower part of body and caudal peduncle to base of tail (later discovered to be bioluminescent)

Siphamia tubulata (Weber 1909)    tubular, referring to silvery subcutaneous tube that runs across both side of body from above anus to end of tail (later discovered to be bioluminescent)

Siphamia versicolor (Smith & Radcliffe 1911)    variegated or of various colors, described as “black as in deep-sea fishes” when first taken from the water, and paler later, with reddish shades and vermilion paired fins

Siphamia zaribae Whitley 1959    of a zariba, a fence made of thorns, referring to its occurrence between the spines of a sea urchin (per Whitley in a follow-up publication later that year)

Sphaeramia Fowler & Bean 1930    sphaero-, sphere, referring “spherical profile” of S. nematoptera; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Sphaeramia nematoptera (Bleeker 1856)    nemato-, thread; pterus, finned, referring to first and second rays of second dorsal fin produced into filaments

Sphaeramia orbicularis (Cuvier 1828)    circular or disc-shaped, referring to its body shape, “very high in the middle, and very short” (translation)

Taeniamia Fraser 2013    taenia, ribbon or band, referring to vertically wide bars and near-vertical to curved narrow bars as lines on most of species in the genus; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Taeniamia ataenia (Randall & Satapoomin 1999)    a-, without; taenia, ribbon band, referring to absence of broad black bar as seen on the closely related T. zosterophora

Taeniamia biguttata (Lachner 1951)    bi-, two; guttatus, spotted, referring to two dark spots, one on humerus and the other at midbase of caudal fin

Taeniamia bilineata (Gon & Randall 1995)    bi-, two; lineata, lined, referring to two dark stripes on body

Taeniamia buruensis (Bleeker 1856)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Buru Island, Molucca Islands, Indonesia, type locality (occurs in western Pacific from Indonesia, north to Taiwan, south to Papua New Guinea and east to Fiji)

Taeniamia dispilus (Lachner 1951)    di-, two; spilos, mark, referring to two dark spots on body

Taeniamia flavofasciata (Gon & Randall 2003)    flavus, yellow; fasciata, barred or striped, referring to dusky yellow bars on body

Taeniamia fucata (Cantor 1849)    colored or painted, presumably referring to body and fins (except pectorals), “silvery carmine with rainbow reflections”

Taeniamia kagoshimanus (Döderlein 1883)    anus, belonging to: Kagoshima, Japan, type locality

Taeniamia leai (Waite 1916)    in honor of Australian entomologist Arthur Mills Lea (1868-1932), who collected type

Taeniamia lineolata (Cuvier 1828)    lined, referring to 12-14 reddish-brown vertical lines on body

Taeniamia macroptera (Cuvier 1828)    macro-, long; ptera, finned, referring to longer anal fin compared to most congeners then placed in Apogon

Taeniamia melasma (Lachner & Taylor 1960)    black spot, referring to black humeral spot

Taeniamia mozambiquensis (Smith 1961)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Island of Mozambique, western Indian Ocean, type locality (occurs off eastern African from Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal)

Taeniamia pallida (Gon & Randall 1995)    pale, referring to its whitish appearance

Taeniamia sansibaricus (Pfeffer 1893)    icus, belonging to: off the coast of Sansibar, German spelling of Zanzibar, Tanzania, type locality

Taeniamia zosterophora (Bleeker 1856)    zosteros, belt or girdle; phora, to bear, referring to broad violet-brown band that encircles body

Verulux Fraser 1972    veru, dart, referring to body shape of V. cypselurus; lux, light, referring to its auto-enzymatic bioluminescent organs

Verulux cypselurus (Weber 1909)    kypselos, swallow (bird); oura, tail, presumably referring to deeply forked caudal fin with pointed lobes, like that of a swallow

Verulux solmaculata Yoshida & Motomura 2016    sol, sun; maculata, spotted, referring to distinct black blotch, like a sunspot, on caudal-fin base

Vincentia Castelnau 1872    ia, belonging to: St. Vincent Gulf, South Australia, type locality of C. waterhousii (=conspersa)

Vincentia badia Allen 1987    red-brown, referring to its overall and characteristic coloration

Vincentia conspersa (Klunzinger 1872)    speckled, referring to scattered black spots on anterior part of body, especially on pectoral fins and head

Vincentia macrocauda Allen 1987    macro-, long; cauda, tail, referring to its elongate caudal peduncle

Vincentia novaehollandiae (Valenciennes 1832)    of New Holland, historic name for Australia, type locality and primary distribution

Vincentia punctata (Klunzinger 1879)    spotted, referring to numerous black spots or dots on trunk and along lateral line, and one on tail

Xeniamia Fraser & Prokofiev 2016    xenos, stranger, referring to a combination of melanophore patterns and internal characters unique among known apogonids, making this genus a “stranger” in the family; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Xeniamia atrithorax Fraser & Prokofiev 2016    atri-, black; thorax, breastplate, referring to position of numerous melanophores as a dark spot in advance of pelvic-fin base

Yarica Whitley 1930    etymology not explained nor evident, perhaps a local Australian word or name

Yarica hyalosoma (Bleeker 1852)    hyalos, glass or translucent; soma, body, referring to its “yellowish-hyaline” (translation) body (and fins) in life

Zapogon Fraser 1972    za, very, referring to its “very similar” appearance to Apogon

Zapogon evermanni (Jordan & Snyder 1904)    in honor of ichthyologist Barton Warren Evermann (1853-1932), U.S. Bureau of Fisheries

Zapogon isus (Randall & Böhlke 1981)    isos, equal or like, “remarkably similar” to Z. evermanni in color, general configuration and most meristic data

Zoramia Jordan 1917    etymology not explained, perhaps zoros, sheer, referring to their partial transparency; Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Zoramia flebila Greenfield, Langston & Randall 2005    tearful, referring to teardrop-shaped marks on cheek

Zoramia fragilis (Smith 1961)    brittle or easily broken, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its translucency in life, with “delicate” colors

Zoramia gilberti (Jordan & Seale 1905)    in honor of Jordan’s colleague at Stanford University, ichthyologist and fisheries biologist Charles H. Gilbert (1859-1928), who provided “material assistance in the comparison of specimens”

Zoramia leptacanthus (Bleeker 1856)    lepto-, slender; acanthus, spine, referring to thread-like extension of first dorsal fin

Zoramia perlita (Fraser & Lachner 1985)    smeared or bedaubed, referring to large, dark, diffuse cluster of chromatophores on caudal peduncle

Zoramia viridiventer Greenfield, Langston & Randall 2005    viridis, green; venter, abdomen, referring to green coloration usually present on abdomen in life

Subfamily PSEUDAMIINAE

Gymnapogon Regan 1905    gymnos, bare or naked, referring to scaleless head and body of G. japonicus; Apogon, type genus of family

Gymnapogon africanus Smith 1954    African, the first African representative (from Shimoni, Kenya, Western Indian Ocean) of a genus hitherto known only from the Pacific

Gymnapogon annona (Whitley 1936)    etymology not explained, perhaps alluding in some way to Annona, a genus of flowering plants that includes the custard apple, or to Annona, a Roman goddess who personifies the yearly grain harvest

Gymnapogon foraminosus (Tanaka 1915)    full of holes, presumably referring to neuromasts on head and body

Gymnapogon janus Fraser 2016    Janus, a Roman God represented by two faces, referring to rounded caudal fin when scales have been sloughed off like some specimens of Pseudamia but with internal characters and preopercular spine of Gymnapogon

Gymnapogon japonicus Regan 1905    Japanese, referring to type locality, Inland Sea, Japan

Gymnapogon melanogaster Gon & Golani 2002    melano-, black; gaster, stomach, compared to pale stomach of G. africanus

Gymnapogon philippinus (Herre 1939)    Filipino, referring to type locality, Nasugbu, Batangas Province, Luzon Island, Philippines (occurs from Indonesia and Philippines north to Taiwan and Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia)

Gymnapogon sagittarius Yoshida, Kawai & Motomura 2019    archer, referring to long, narrow, arrow-like shape of body

Gymnapogon urospilotus Lachner 1953    oura, tail; spilotus, marked, referring to spots at end of caudal peduncle

Gymnapogon vanderbilti (Fowler 1938)    in honor of yachtsman and explorer George W. Vanderbilt III (1914-1961), who organized 1937 expedition to the South Pacific, during which type was collected

Gymnapogon velum Fraser 2019    sail, referring to long and deep dorsal and anal fins

Pseudamia Bleeker 1865    pseudo-, false, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its presumed close relationship with Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Pseudamia amblyuroptera (Bleeker 1856)    amblys, blunt; oura, tail; ptera, finned, presumably referring to blunt and convex shape of caudal fin

Pseudamia gelatinosa Smith 1956    gelatinous, referring to its translucent body in life

Pseudamia hayashii Randall, Lachner & Fraser 1985    in honor of Masayoshi Hayashi, Curator, Yokosuka City Museum, for his studies of the apogonids of Japan; he also loaned a specimen of this species when he learned of the authors’ research on the genus

Pseudamia nigra Allen 1992    black, referring to its uniform dark brown to blackish coloration in life

Pseudamia rubra Randall & Ida 1993    red, referring to its prevalent orange-red coloration in life

Pseudamia tarri Randall, Lachner & Fraser 1985    in honor of ichthyologist A. Bradley Tarr, University of Petroleum and Minerals (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), who helped collect type

Pseudamia zonata Randall, Lachner & Fraser 1985    banded, referring to alternating broad dark and light bars on body

Pseudamiops Smith 1954    ops, appearance, referring to similarity to the closely related Pseudamia, differing mainly in the absence of a lateral line

Pseudamiops diaphanes Randall 1998    transparent, a transparent species with dark markings in life

Pseudamiops gracilicauda (Lachner 1953)    gracilis, slender; cauda, tail, referring to its slender, elongate caudal peduncle

Pseudamiops pellucidus Smith 1954    translucent, almost completely transparent in life and uniform translucent milky yellow in spirits

Pseudamiops phasma Randall 2001    Greek for phantom or apparition, referring to its transparency in life

Pseudamiops springeri Gon & Bogorodsky 2013    in honor of ichthyologist Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), U.S. National Museum, who collected type in 1969

Subfamily AMIOIDINAE

Amioides Smith & Radcliffe 1912    oides, having the form of: proposed as a subgenus of Amia, a nonbinominal name applied to Apogon by Gronow (1763), now a commonly used suffix in the family

Amioides grossidens (Smith & Radcliffe 1912)    grossus, large; dens, teeth, referring to its “much stronger teeth than in any other species of Amia [=Apogon]”

Amioides polyacanthus (Vaillant 1877)    poly, many; acanthus, spine, referring to seven first dorsal-fin spines vs. six among presumed congeners in Cheilodipterus

Holapogon Fraser 1973    holos, entire or whole, referring to how this genus most represents the ancestor of the diverse genus Apogon (both genera in subfamily are now believed to be basal to all apogonids)

Holapogon maximus (Boulenger 1888)    largest, presumably referring to large size (25.4 cm) compared to presumed congeners in Apogon

Subfamily PAXTONINAE

Paxton Baldwin & Johnson 1999    named for friend and colleague John R. Paxton (b. 1938), Australian Museum (Sydney), who provided type specimens, as a “good-natured reminder that ‘you can’t judge a fish by its cover’” (Paxton initially believed that the specimens represented an undescribed genus of grammastin serranid]

Paxton concilians Baldwin & Johnson 1999    to unite separate parts into a whole (consilience), referring to its single (or continuous) dorsal fin