Sebastiscus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic_taxobox | image = Sebastiscus marmoratus by OpenCage.jpg | image_caption = False kelpfish, ''Sebastiscus marmoratus'' | taxon = Sebastiscus | authority = D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904 | display_parents = 3 | type_species =''Sebastes marmoratus'' | type_species_authority = Cuvier, 1829<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://spo.nwr.noaa.gov/mfr622/mfr6221.pdf| last=Kendall Jr |first=Arthur W.| title=An historical review of ''Sebastes'' taxonomy and systematics|journal= Marine Fisheries Review|volume= 62|issue=2|year=2000|pages= 1–23}}</ref> }}

'''''Sebastiscus''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae part of the family Scorpaenidae. These fishes are native to the western Pacific Ocean. They are collectively called '''sea ruffes''' and resemble the rockfishes in the genus ''Sebastes'', but are usually smaller and have a different pattern.

==Taxonomy== ''Sebastiscus'' was first formally described as a subgenus of ''Sebastes'' by David Starr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks in 1904 with ''Sebastes marmoratus'', which had been described by Georges Cuvier in 1829, as its type species. It was regarded as a subgenus up to 1984 when it was proposed as a valid genus,<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family | family = Sebastidae | access-date = 18 December 2021}}</ref> albeit within the same tribe Sebastini as the speciose genus ''Sebastes'', which is one of the tribes of the subfamily Sebastinae within the family Scorpaenidae and 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= 468–475 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }}</ref> but other authorities place it in the Perciformes in the suborder Scorpaenoidei.<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 | article-number = 162 | doi = 10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3| pmid = 28683774 | doi-access = free | pmc = 5501477 | bibcode = 2017BMCEE..17..162B }}</ref>

==Species== There are currently four recognized species in this genus:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Sebastiscus| month = August | year = 2021}}</ref><ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus | genus = Sebastiscus | access-date = 22 December 2021}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- |120px || ''Sebastiscus albofasciatus'' (Lacépède, 1802) || || Western Pacific off the coast of China, Japan, and Korea |- |120px || ''Sebastiscus marmoratus'' (G. Cuvier, 1829) ||False kelpfish, Japanese sea ruffe || Western Pacific from southern Japan to the Philippines. |- |120px || ''Sebastiscus tertius'' (Barsukov & L. C. Chen, 1978) || || Western Pacific |- || || ''Sebastiscus vibrantus'' Morishita, Kawai & Motomura, 2018 || || Western Pacific |}

==Characteristics== ''Sebastiscus'' was described by Jordan and Starks as being similar to the subgenus ''Sebastodes'' of the genus ''Sebastes'', the Pacific rockfishes were considered to be separate from the Atlantic redfishes which bore the generic name Sebastes. They also stated that these fishes bore a close resemblance to the fishes in the subgenus ''Pteropodus'' but differed in the possession of 12 dorsal fin spines and in the vertebrae count. These characteristics were thought to be similar to the genus ''Scorpaena''. ''Sebastiscus'' was differentiated from ''Helicolenus'' by having a well developed swim bladder.<ref name = Kendall>{{cite journal | author = Arthur W. Kendall Jr. | year = 2000 | title = An Historical Review of Sebastes Taxonomy and Systematics | journal = Marine Fisheries Review | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | url = https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/MFR/mfr622/mfr6221.pdf}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== ''Sebasticus'' species are found in the western Pacific Ocean from Japan and Korea south to the Philippines.<ref name = Fishbase/> Extralimital records of ''S. marmoratus'' in Australia and Norway are thought to probably be a result of fish being transported to these locations in the ballast water of ships.<ref name = FofA>{{cite web | url = https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3136 | author = Bray, D.J. | year = 2021 | title = ''Sebastiscus marmoratus'' | work = Fishes of Australia | access-date = 21 December 2021 | publisher= Museums Victoria}}</ref><ref name = Hansen>{{cite journal | author1 = Haakon Hansen | author2 = Egil Karlsbak | year = 2018 | title = Pacific false kelpfish, Sebastiscus marmoratus (Cuvier, 1829) (Scorpaeniformes, Sebastidae) found in Norwegian waters | journal = BioInvasions Records | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 73–78 | doi = 10.3391/bir.2018.7.1.11| doi-access = free }}</ref> They are shallow water coastal species.<ref name = Kendall/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Sebastiscus Category:Sebastini Category:Marine fish genera Category:Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Category:Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks