Iluocoetes is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The only species in the genus is Iluocoetes fimbriatus. This species is found off southern South America, off Chile and Argentina, in the southeastern Pacific and southwestern Atlantic Oceans.

Iluocoetes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Subfamily: Lycodinae
Genus: Iluocoetes
Species:
I. fimbriatus
Binomial name
Iluocoetes fimbriatus
Jenyns, 1842
Synonyms[1]

Taxonomy edit

Iluocoetes was first proposed as a monotypic genus in 1842 by the English clergyman and naturalist Leonard Jenyns[2] when he described Iluocoetes fimbriatus with its type locality given as the Chiloé Archipelago in Chile.[3] In 1898 the Danish zoologist Fredrik Adam Smitt described Phucocoetes variegatus in four forms, one of Smitt's forms, elongatus, was subsequently reclassified as Iliocoets elongatus and in 2012 this was reclassified into another monotypic genus Argentinolycus.[4] Iluocoetes is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[5] Some authorities include a second species, Iluocoetes facali, in the genus[2] but others regard this taxon as a junior synonym of I. fimbriatus.[1][6]

Etymology edit

Iluocoetes was described from a holotype was collected by Charles Darwin from under stones and weed so Jenyns combined ilyos, meaning "mud" or "ooze", with koitos, which means "a place of rest" or "bed", to form the generic name. The specific name fimbriatus means "fringed" referring to the row of tubercules on each cheek.[7]

Identification edit

Iluocoetes was identified as a separate genus from Argentinolycus by a number of skeletal differences, although there were fewer than 10 known specimens of Argentinolycus.[4] This species attains a maximum total length of 35.6 cm (14.0 in).[1] The head and body, especially the upper part, are mid brown in colour with many white spots and there is a dark band extending from the lower front edge of the eye to the upper jaw.[4]

Distribution and habitat edit

Iluocoetes is found off southern South America in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean off Argentina and around the Falkland Islands[8] and in the southeast Pacific Ocean off Chile, including Tierra del Fuego. It can be found in brackish waters and the intertidal zone down to depths of 600 m (2,000 ft).[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Iluocoetes fimbriatus" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
  2. ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Iluocoetes". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Matallanas, Jesús; Corbella, Cecília (2012). "Redescription of Iluocoetes Jenyns, 1842; proposal of a new genus, Argentinolycus, for Iluocoetes elongatus (Smitt, 1898), and description of Patagolycus melastomus gen. et sp. nov. (Teleostei, Zoarcidae)". Zootaxa. 3296: 1–18. doi:10.5281/zenodo.280870.
  5. ^ Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
  6. ^ M. Eric Anderson and Atila E. Gosztonyi (1991). "Studies on the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) of the Southern Hemisphere IV. New records and a new species from the Magellan Province of South America" (PDF). Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 55: 1–16.
  7. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (6 May 2022). "Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  8. ^ Arkhipkin, Alexander; Brickle, Paul; Laptikhovsky, Vladimir; et al. (2001). "Variation in the diet of the red cod with size and season around the Falkland Islands (south-west Atlantic)". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK. 81: 1035–1040. doi:10.1017/S0025315401005021.