Stonefishes

Taxobox
name = Stonefishes

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image_caption = Stonefish, "Synanceia verrucosa"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Scorpaeniformes
familia = Synanceiidae
familia_authority = Nelson, 1994
subdivision_ranks = Genera and species
subdivision = See text.

Stonefishes are members of the family Synanceiidae of ray-finned fish, found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, though some species are known to live in rivers. Initially, the most prominent genus of the family was named "Synanceja" (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), and placed in the Scorpaenidae family, thus some sources still classify its genera in that family. 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 of the species derives from their behaviour of camouflaging as rocks. The type species of the family is the stonefish, "Synanceia verrucosa".

Genera and species

* Genus "Choridactylus"
* Genus "Erosa"
* Genus "Inimicus"
* Genus "Leptosynanceia"
* Genus "Minous"
* Genus "Pseudosynanceia"
* Genus "Synanceia"
** Reef Stonefish, "Synanceia verrucosa" Bloch & Schneider, 1801
** Estuary stonefish, "Synanceia horrida"
** Red Sea stonefish, "Synanceia nana"
* Genus "Trachicephalus"

External links

* [http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?id=578 FishBase entry]