Cocotropus Explained

Cocotropus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, velvetfishes belonging to the family Aploactinidae. The genus is found in the Indian and western Pacific oceans.

Taxonomy

Cocotropus was first described as a genus in 1858 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup as a monotypic genus, the only species classified within it being Corythobatus echinatus, which had been described in 1849 by the Danish zoologist Theodore Cantor from Penang in Malaysia. The genus Cocotropus is classified within the family Aploactinidae in the suborder Scorpaenoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes,[1] although this family is also treated as a subfamily of the stonefish family Synanceiidae[2] [3] within the Scorpaenoidei, which in turn is treated as a superfamily within the order Perciformes.[4] The name of the genus, Cocotropus was not explained by Kaup but may be a compound of coccum, which means "scarlet", and tropus, meaning "manner" or "way", so a "scarlet fish", however C. echinatus is reddish brown rather than scarlet.[5]

Species

There are currently 17 recognized species in this genus:

Characteristics

Cocotropus velvetfishes are characterised by the gill membranes not being attached to the isthmus which has fleshy extentions. The anus is just in front of the origin of the anal fin while the dorsal fin is continuous. There are parallel ridges between the eyes. The body is covered in velvety scales.[6] The pelvic fin has a single spine and 3 rays.[7] These are small fishes, the largest is the roughskin scorpionfish (C. monacanthus) which reaches a maximum published total length of .

Distribution and habitat

Cocotropus velvetfishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region from the eastern coasts of Africa to New Caledonia, north to Japan and south to Australia. They are little know fishes most often found sheltering in crevices, underneath coral rubble, or within coral-lined algal areas on either coral or rock reefs.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fishes of the World . 5th . J. S. Nelson . T. C. Grande . M. V. H. Wilson . 2016 . 468–475 . Wiley . 978-1-118-34233-6 . 2022-04-26 . 2019-04-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ . dead .
  2. Smith, W. Leo . Smith, Elizabeth . Richardson, Clara . Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Flatheads, Scorpionfishes, Sea Robins, and Stonefishes (Percomorpha: Scorpaeniformes) and the Evolution of the Lachrymal Saber . February 2018 . Copeia . 106 . 1 . 94–119 . 10.1643/CG-17-669.
  3. News: Stonefish are already scary, and now scientists have found they have switchblades in their heads . Willingham, AJ . 13 April 2018 . CNN .
  4. Ricardo Betancur-R . Edward O. Wiley . Gloria Arratia . Arturo Acero . Nicolas Bailly . Masaki Miya . Guillaume Lecointre . Guillermo Ortí . 3 . Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 17 . 162 . 2017 . 162 . 10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3 . 28683774 . 5501477 . free .
  5. Web site: Order Perciformes (Part 10): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Families Apistidae, Tetrarogidae, Synanceiidae, Aploacrinidae, Perryenidae, Eschmeyeridae, Pataecidae, Gnathanacanthidae, Congiopodidae and Zanclorhynchidae . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf . Kenneth J. Lazara . amp . 10 March 2022 . 22 April 2022 . Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
  6. Web site: Bray, D.J. . 2020 . Cocotropus . Fishes of Australia . 26 April 2022 . Museums Victoria.
  7. Hisashi Imamura . Gento Shinohara . and . 2004 . A New Species of Cocotropus (Actinopterygii:Teleostei:Aploactinidae) from South Africa, Western Indian Ocean . Species Diversity . 9 . 201–205 .

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