{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Fish4348 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg | image_caption = ''Neomerinthe hemingwayi'' | taxon = Neomerinthe | authority = Fowler, 1935 | display_parents = 3 | type_species = ''Neomerinthe hemingwayi'' | type_species_authority = Fowler, 1935<ref name = CofF/> }}
'''''Neomerinthe''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. They are found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.
==Taxonomy== ''Neomerinthe'' was first described as a genus in 1935 by the American ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler was describing ''N. hemingwayi'', with a type locality given as off Cape May, New Jersey, which he designated as the type species of a new genus.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family | family = Scorpaenidae | access-date = 12 January 2022}}</ref> The genus name is a compound of ''neo'', meaning ''new'', and ''Merinthe'', a synonym of the genus ''Pontinus'', which Fowler thought ''N. hemingwayi'' resembled.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes9/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 9): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Family Scorpaenidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 2 October 2021 | access-date = 12 January 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
==Species== ''Neomerinthe'' has 12 species classified within it:<ref name = Fishbase/> * ''Neomerinthe amplisquamiceps'' <small>(Fowler, 1938)</small> (Orange scorpionfish) * ''Neomerinthe bauchotae'' <small>Poss & Duhamel, 1991</small> * ''Neomerinthe beanorum'' <small>(Evermann & M. C. Marsh, 1900)</small> * ''Neomerinthe costata'' * ''Neomerinthe erostris'' <small>(Alcock, 1896)</small> (Round scorpionfish) <ref name=Motomura2015>Motomura, H., Causse, R., Béarez, P. & Mishra, S.S. (2015): Redescription of the Indo-West Pacific scorpionfish (Scorpaenidae), ''Neomerinthe erostris'' (Alcock 1896), a senior synonym of ''Scorpaena gibbifrons'' Fowler 1938, ''N. rotunda'' Chen 1981, and ''N. bathyperimensis'' Zajonz & Klausewitz 2002. ''Zootaxa, 4021 (4): 529-540.''</ref> * ''Neomerinthe folgori'' <small>(Postel & C. Roux, 1964)</small> (Folger's scorpionfish) * ''Neomerinthe hemingwayi'' <small>Fowler, 1935</small> (Spiny-cheek scorpionfish) * ''Neomerinthe megalepis'' <small>(Fowler, 1938)</small> * ''Neomerinthe naevosa'' <small>Motomura, Béarez & Causse, 2011</small> (Blotched Polynesian scorpionfish) <ref name=Motomura2011>Motomura, H., Béarez, P. & Causse, R. (2011): Review of Indo-Pacific specimens of the subfamily Scorpaeninae (Scorpaenidae), deposited in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, with description of a new species of ''Neomerinthe''. ''Cybium, 35 (1): 55-73.''</ref> * ''Neomerinthe pallidimacula'' <small>(Fowler, 1938)</small> (Three-striped scorpionfish) <ref name=Motomura2016>Motomura, H., Causse, R. & Béarez, P. (2016): Validity of a poorly known western Pacific scorpionfish (Scorpaenidae), ''Neomerinthe pallidimacula'' (Fowler, 1938). ''Cybium, 40 (2): 109-113.''</ref> * ''Neomerinthe parallelaspina'' * ''Neomerinthe procurva'' <small>L. C. Chen, 1981</small> (Curved-spine scorpionfish) * ''Neomerinthe rufescens'' <small>(C. H. Gilbert, 1905)</small>
==Characteristics== ''Neomerinthe'' scorpionfishes have an elongate and robust body> they do not have an occipital pit located o the rear of the eyes but there is a bony suborbital ridge under the eye which is armed with 3 spines. The uppermost spine on the preoperculum is longer than the others. There are teeth on the sides of the roof of the mouth. The dorsal fin has 12 spines and 9-10 soft rays, the rearmost ray being split to its base. The pectoral fin is wedge-shaped with 16-18 rats, the longest rays being in the centre and some of the upper rays are branched at their tips in adults. The scales on the body are rough and the lateral line reaches the base of the caudal fin.<ref name = STRI>{{cite web | url = https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/taxon/3411 | title = Genus: Neomerinthe, Scorpionfishes | access-date = 12 January 2022 | work = Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system | publisher = Smithsonian Tropical research Institute}}</ref> These scorpionfishes vary in size from a standard length of {{cvt|7.1|cm}} in the curve-spine scorpionfish (''N. procurva'' to a total length of {{cvt|59|cm}} in Folger's scorpionfish (''N. folgeri'').<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Neomerinthe | month = August | year = 2021}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Neomerinthe'' scorpionfishes are found throughout the world's oceans except for the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They live in deep water.<ref name = STRI/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q587383}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Scorpaenini Category:Taxa named by Henry Weed Fowler Category:Venomous fish Category:Marine fish genera