Synanceiinae

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = | image = Stone Fish at AQWA SMC2006.jpg | image_caption = Stonefish, ''Synanceia verrucosa'' | taxon = Synanceiinae | authority = Swainson, 1839<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> | type_species = ''Scorpaena brachion'' | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758<ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus|genus=Synanceia|access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Tribes | subdivision_ref = | subdivision = See text }}

'''Synanceiinae''' is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, the '''stonefishes''', which are classified as part of the family Synanceiidae within the suborder Scorpaenoidei. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, though some species are known to live in fresh or brackish waters. The various species of this family are known informally as stonefish, stinger, stingfish and ghouls. Its species are known to have the most potent neurotoxins of all the fish venoms, secreted from glands at the base of their needle-like dorsal fin spines. The vernacular name, stonefish, for some of these fishes derives from their behaviour of camouflaging as rocks. The type species of the family is the reef stonefish (''Synanceia verrucosa'').

==Taxonomy== Synanceiinae was first named and recognised as a grouping of related taxa by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1839.<ref name = VDLEF/> The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' treats this grouping as a subfamily within the family Scorpaenidae, dividing the subfamily into the three tribes: Minoini, Choridactylini and Synanceiini.<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> Other authorities differ in their treatment of this grouping, regarding Synanceiidae as a valid family within the suborder Scorpaenoidei which they include in the order Perciformes, treating the tribes as subfamilies.<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 | bibcode = 2017BMCEE..17..162B }}</ref>

Presently, the most up-to-date authorities, e.g ''Catalog of Fishes'', define the Synanceiidae to include other related taxa not included by ''Fishes of the World'', the Apistinae and Tetraroginae, which ''Fishes of the World'' places in the Scorpaenidae; as well as the subfamilies Aploactininae, Eschmeyerinae, Gnathanacanthinae, Pataecinae and Perryeninae which are also included, whereas ''Fishes of the World'' treats these as families.<ref name="CofF2">{{Cof family|family=Synanceiidae|access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref> The "stonefish"-type synanceiids continue to be placed in the subfamily Synanceiinae.<ref name=":132">{{Cite web |last1=Fricke |first1=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

The taxon name is based on that of the genus ''Synanceia'', which was described by Bloch & Schneider in 1801, combining ''syn'', meaning "with", and ''angeíon'', which means "cavity", an allusion to the large, cavernous heads of species placed in the genus.<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 = 31 March 2022 | access-date = 31 March 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Genera== The following genera are placed in this family:<ref name="CofF22">{{Cof family|family=Synanceiinae|access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref>

*''Dampierosa'' Whitley, 1932 * ''Erosa'' Swainson, 1839 * ''Leptosynanceia'' Bleeker, 1874 * ''Pseudosynanceia'' Day, 1875 * ''Synanceia'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801 * ''Trachicephalus'' Swainson, 1839

==Characteristics== Synanceiinae species are characterised by having bodies which are not covered in scales, with the exception of the embedded scales along their lateral lines and on some other areas of the body. The body is covered with glands in the skin. They have large heads. They typically do not have a swim bladder. There are venom glands at the base of the spines in the dorsal fin, the spines acting like hypodermic syringes to inject the venom. The venom is neurotoxic and is among the most toxic of venoms produced by fishes. It has been known to be fatal to humans.<ref name = Nelson5/>

==Distribution and habitat== Synanceiinae species are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans, including the Red Sea. They are found in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase family|family=Synanceiidae|month=February|year=2022}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Synanceiinae Category:Actinopterygii subfamilies Category:Taxa named by William Swainson