Bembridae

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Bembras japonica.jpeg | image_caption = ''Bembras japonica'' | taxon = Bembridae | authority = Kaup, 1873<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 }}

'''Bembridae''', the '''deep-water flatheads''', are a family of bottom-dwelling ray-finned fishes. They are found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

==Taxonomy== Bembridae was first proposed as a family in 1873 by the German zoologist Johann Jakob Kaup.<ref name = VDLEF/> The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies this family within the suborder Platycephaloidei in the order Scorpaeniformes.<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=467–495 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |access-date=2022-06-30 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other authorities differ and do not consider the Scorpaeniformes to be a valid order because the Perciformes is not monophyletic without the taxa within the Scorpaeniformes being included within it. These authorities consider the Bembridae to belong to the suborder Platycephaloidei, along with the families Parabembridae, Hoplichthyidae, Platycephalidae and Plectrogeniidae within the Perciformes.<ref name = Deepfin>{{cite journal | author1 = Ricardo Betancur-R | author2 = Edward O. Wiley | author3 = Gloria Arratia | author4 = Arturo Acero | author5 = Nicolas Bailly | author6 = Masaki Miya | author7 = Guillaume Lecointre | author8 = Guillermo Ortí | display-authors = 3 | title =Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 17 | issue = 162 | year = 2017 | page = 162 | doi = 10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3 | pmid = 28683774 | pmc = 5501477 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This family is thought to be more primitive than their close relatives, the true flatheads. Despite the common name, their heads are only slightly flattened and have spiny ridges.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor1=Paxton, J.R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W.N. |author= Eschmeyer, William N.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 177|isbn= 978-0-12-547665-2}}</ref>

===Genera=== Bembridae contains 4 recognised genera:<ref name = Nelson5/>

* ''Bambradon'' D.S. Jordan & R.E. Richardson, 1908<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Bemridae|access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref> * ''Bembras'' Cuvier, 1829<ref name = CofF/> * ''Brachybembras'' Fowler. 1938<ref name = CofF/> * ''Parabembras'' Bleeker, 1874<ref name = CofF/>

The genus ''Bembradium'', previously placed in here, is now known to belong to the family Plectrogeniidae. Other authorities classify the genus ''Parabembras'' within the monotypic family Parabembridae.<ref name = Deepfin/>

===Etymology=== Bembridae derives its name from its type genus ''Bembras'' which was coined by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier in 1829 but he did not explain its etymology. However, it is thought that it may come from an ancient Greek word for some sort of small fish, such as anchovy, sprat or smelt. which at least dates as far back as Aristotle. Cuvier applied this type of name to other genera he put forward, such as ''Synodontis'', ''Salanx'' or ''Premnas''.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes11/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Platycephaloidei: Families Bembridae, Parabembridae, Hoplichthyidae, Platycephalidae and Plectrogeniidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 7 December 2021 | access-date = 26 May 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Characteristics== Benbridae deepwater flatheads have large, flattened heads with elongated subcylindrical bodies which have not spiny scutes. The eyes are moderately large without an iris lapit or ocular flaps. The infraorbital bones form a clear, robust ridge, joining the uppermost preopercular spine and has between 4 and 6 spines on it. The spines on the head are short to moderate with between 8 and 11 above the eye. There are two separate dorsal fins, the first contains between 6 and 12 spines and the second between 8 and 12 soft rays while there are 3 spines in the anal fin. There are no separate rays in the pectoral fins. Although the colour is typically red red, orange, or light brown; some species have green, dark green or blackish spotting or blotching on their body and fins and the anal fin may be almost black.<ref name = Nelson5/><ref name = FAO>{{cite book | editor1 =Carpenter, K.E. | editor2 = Niem, V.H. | title = FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae) | publisher = FAO, Rome | year = 1999 | chapter = Bembridae Deepwater flatheads | author = S.W. Poss | pages = 2383–2384 | isbn = 9251043019}}</ref> The largest member is the bigscale flathead (''Bembras macrolepis''), which reaches a standard length of {{cvt|27.3|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase family|family=Bembridae|month=February|year=2022}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== Bembridae deep-water flatheads have an Indo-Pacific distribution and are mainly found in the South China Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the waters near Southern Indonesia and Australia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Imamura|first1=Hisashi|last2=Knapp|first2=Leslie W.|date=1997|title=A new species of deepwater flathead, Bembras adenensis (Scorpaeniformes: Bembridae) from the western Indian Ocean|journal=Ichthyological Research|language=en|volume=44|issue=1|pages=9|doi=10.1007/bf02672753|issn=1341-8998|hdl=1834/955|hdl-access=free}}</ref> These are benthic fishes of the continental shelf at depths of {{cvt|80|to|581|m}}.<ref name = FAO/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Bembridae Category:Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup Category:Perciformes families