Echinophryne
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| Echinophryne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Echinophryne crassispina | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Lophiiformes |
| Family: | Antennariidae |
| Subfamily: | Histiophryninae |
| Genus: | Echinophryne McCulloch & Waite, 1918 |
| Type species | |
| Echinophryne crassispina McCulloch & Waite, 1918 | |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
Echinophryne is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the subfamily Histiophryninae in the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in this genus are endemic to the waters off Australia.
Echinophryne was first proposed as a genus in 1918 by the Australian ichthyologists Allan Riverstone McCulloch and Edgar Ravenswood Waite with Echinophryne crassispina, a species being newly described by McCulloch and Waite, being designated as the type species as well as being its only species.[1] Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Histiophryninae within the family Antennariidae.,[2] while others recognise it as the family Histiophrynidae.[3] However, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the suborder Antennarioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.[4]
Etymology
Echinophryne combines echinos, meaning "spiny", a reference to the skin of the type species which was described as "thickly beset with large, upstanding, bifurcate spinules", with phryne, meaning "toad", a common used suffix for anglerfish genera, it may date as far back as Aristotle and Cicero, who referred to anglerfishes as "fishing-frogs" and "sea-frogs", respectively, this is assumed to be an allusion to the frog- or toad-like appearance of these fishes.[5]
Species
Echinophryne has three recognised species classified within it:[6]
- Echinophryne crassispina McCulloch & Waite, 1918 (Prickly anglerfish)
- Echinophryne mitchellii (Morton, 1897) (Long-spined anglerfish)
- Echinophryne reynoldsi Pietsch & Kuiter, 1984 (Sponge anglerfish)