{{Short description|Subfamily of ray-finned fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = HachiM.jpg | image_caption = Ocellated waspfish ''(Apistus carinatus)'' | taxon = Apistinae | authority = T. N. Gill, 1859<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp | year = 2014 | title = Family-group names of Recent fishes | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268078514 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 001–230 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = see text }}
'''Apistinae''', the '''wasp scorpionfishes''', is a subfamily of venomous, marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and related species. These fishes are native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
==Taxonomy== Apistinae, or Apsitidae, was first formally recognised as a taxonomic grouping in 1859 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Gill.<ref name = VDLEF/> The 5th edition of Fishes of the World treats this as a subfamily of the scorpionfish family Scorpaenidae,<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=468–475 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> although other authorities treat it as a valid family, the Apistidae.<ref name = Fishbase/> The name of the subfamily is based on the genus name ''Apistus'', which means "untrustworthy" or "perfidious", a name Cuvier explained as being due to the long and mobile spines around the eyes, which he described as "very offensive weapons that these fish use when you least expect it".<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes10/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 10): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Families Apistidae, Tetrarogidae, Synanceiidae, Aploacrinidae, Perryenidae, Eschmeyeridae, Pataceidae, Gnathanacanthidae, Congiopodidae and Zanclorhynchidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 10 March 2022 | access-date = 13 March 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
A recent study placed the wasp scorpionfishes into an expanded stonefish clade (Synanceiidae) because all of these fish have a lachrymal saber that can project a switch-blade-like mechanism out from underneath their eye.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Smith, W. Leo |author2=Smith, Elizabeth |author3=Richardson, Clara | title=Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Flatheads, Scorpionfishes, Sea Robins, and Stonefishes (Percomorpha: Scorpaeniformes) and the Evolution of the Lachrymal Saber | date=February 2018 | journal=Copeia | volume=106 | number=1 | pages=94–119 | url=https://www.copeiajournal.org/copeia-bjah/ofcg-17-669yt497804km | doi=10.1643/CG-17-669|s2cid=91157582 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Stonefish are already scary, and now scientists have found they have switchblades in their heads | author=Willingham, AJ | date=April 13, 2018 | newspaper=CNN | url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/health/stonefish-switchblade-lachrymal-saber-trnd/index.html}}</ref>
==Genera== Apistinae contains the following 3 monotypic genera:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase family|family=Apistidae|month=February|year=2022}}</ref><ref name = Coff>{{Cof family|family=Scorpaenidae|access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>
* ''Apistops'' <small>Ogilby, 1911</small> * ''Apistus'' <small>Cuvier, 1829</small> * ''Cheroscorpaena'' <small>Mees, 1964</small>
==Characteristics== Apistinae species have either 1 or 3 lower pectoral fin rays which are free of the fin membrane and a swimbladder with 2 lobes.<ref name = Nelson5/> They are fairly small fishes reaching lengths of {{convert|15|cm|in}} TL in the humpback waspfish<ref name =Mees1964>{{cite journal | author = Mees G.F. | year =1964| url = http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/150618 | title = A new fish of the family Scorpaenidae from New Guinea | journal = Zoologische Mededelingen | volume = 40 | issue =1 | pages = 1–4}}</ref> to {{convert|20|cm|in}} TL in the ocellated waspfish.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution and habitat== Apistinae species are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa east in to the western Pacific Ocean, north to Japan and south to Australia. They are demersal species of the continental shelf and may be found over soft substrates or on reefs.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.starfish.ch/collection/rhinopias.html#Apistidae Photos of Apistus carinatus (Bearded waspfish or Longfin waspfish) ] * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040825214845/http://mavicanet.com/directory/eng/24994.html Apistidae]}}
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Category:Apistinae Category:Actinopterygii subfamilies