COMMENTS
v. 1.0 – 11 July 2021  view/download PDF

Family ZANIOLEPIDIDAE Combfishes

Zaniolepis Girard 1858    xanion, a comb for carding wool; lepis, scale, referring to imbricated, extremely roughly ctenoid scales of Z. latipinnis, or, to use Girard’s words, “Dermic productions comb-like” (hence the common name combfishes); in a follow-up paper published later in 1858, Girard described “prickles of the skin … in the shape of comb-like scales”

Zaniolepis frenata Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    bridled, allusion not explained, probably referring to oblique dark band through eye [originally spelled frenatus; emended to agree with the feminine gender of genus]

Zaniolepis latipinnis Girard 1858    latus, broad; pinnis, fin, presumably referring to long-based dorsal and anal-fins