Vellitor

Vellitor
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cottidae
Subfamily: Cottinae
Genus: Vellitor
Jordan & Starks, 1904
Type species
Podabrus centropomus
Synonyms[1]
  • Podabrus Richardson, 1848

Vellitor is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in seawedd beds in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

Vellitor was first proposed as a genus in 1904 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks with Podabrus centropomus, which had been described by Sir John Richardson in 1848 from Quelpart in the Korea Strait,[2] as its type species.[1] Richardson's name, Podabrus was an unavailable as a name under the ICZN as it was preoccupied by a mammal genus, the Sminthopsis proposed by John Gould in 1845 and by a beetle genus proposed by John O. Westwood in 1838, so Jordan and Starks' name is a replacement.[1] In 1983 a second species was described, differing in the number of pectoral fin rays.[3] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the genus Triglops within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae,[4] however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Psychrolutinae of the family Psychrolutidae.[1]

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[5]

Characteristics

Vellitor sculpins have no spines or cirri on the upper part of the head and they have a deep, laterally compressed body. They also have a narrow caudal peduncle.[3] These fishes range in maximum published standard lengths from 9 cm (3.5 in) in V. minutus to 12 cm (4.7 in) in V. centropomus.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Vellitor sculpins are found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean around Japan and South Korea where they are demersal fishes occurring in beds of seaweed.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Psychrolutinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  2. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Vellitor". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b Akihisa Iwata (1983). "A revision of the cottid fish genus Vellitor". Japanese Journal of Ichthyology. 30 (1): 1–9.
  4. ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 467–495. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  5. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Vellitor". FishBase. August 2022 version.
  6. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Vellitor centropomus". FishBase. August 2022 version.
  7. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Vellitor minutus". FishBase. August 2022 version.