Solocisquama

Solocisquama batfishes have a cleft in the upper jaw in the middle, a feature not present in any other genera in the Ogcocephalidae. The scales resemble tubercles rather than bucklers and have highly modified spines. The teeth on the fifth ceratobranchial are in small, clearly separated patches just meeting in the middle whereas those of Dibranchus are large and broadly joined. The illicium has processes on its sides towards the tip. The part of the lateral line on the tail starts to the rear of the anus. The body disc is triangular in shape, although if the limb line pelvic fins are folded against its rear edge it can be oval or bell shaped. The spines on the suboperculum are short, robust and have many points. The head is higher than the flattened body and they eyes are directed to the side and the front. The rostrum is made up of tubercles which are set close together creating a short shelf over the esca. In the type species the central tubercle of the rostrum has the middle tubercle much larger than those at the sides. The illicial cavity is small and the esca has an upper rather leaf-shaped lobe with a furrow down the middle and two roundish lower lobes.^[7] The largest species in the genus is S, erythrina which has a maximum published standard length of 13.6 cm (5.4 in) while the smallest is S. carinata with a maximum published standard length of 7.3 cm (2.9 in).^[6]

Solocisquama batfishes are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans; S. carinata is known only from the Sala y Gomez ridge,^[8] S. erythrina is known from some scattered locations in the Pacific Ocean such as Western Australia, New South Wales, the Philippines, New Caledonia and Hawaii,^[9] while S. stellulata is known from the Western Indian Ocean off South Africa and Kenya, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hawaii.^[10] These are bathydemersal fishes found at depths from 750 m (2,460 ft)^[11] up to 900 m (3,000 ft).^[12]