Maxillicosta

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Scorpaeniformes
Subordo: Scorpaenoidei
Familia: Neosebastidae
Genus: Maxillicosta
Species: M. lopholepis – M. meridianus – M. raoulensis – M. reticulata – M. scabriceps – M. whitleyi
Name
Maxillicosta Whitley, 1935

Maxillicosta is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, belonging to the subfamily Neosebastinae, the gurnard scorpionfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. They are native to the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy

Maxillicosta was first described as a genus in 1935 by the Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley when he described M. scabriceps, with its type locality given as Kingscote on Kangaroo Island in South Australia,[2] as a monotypic genus but he also explicitly designated M scabriceps as its type species.[1] The name of the genus Maxillicosta was chosen by Whitley as the type species had a scaleless maxilla crossed by five ridges, costa in contract to the scaled maxilla of Neosebastes.[3]
Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus:[4]

Maxillicosta lopholepis Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Bigeye gurnard perch)
Maxillicosta meridianus Motomura, Last & M. F. Gomon, 2006 (Southern gurnard perch)
Maxillicosta raoulensis Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Red little gurnard perch)
Maxillicosta reticulata (F. de Buen, 1961)
Maxillicosta scabriceps Whitley, 1935 (Little gurnard perch)
Maxillicosta whitleyi Eschmeyer & Poss, 1976 (Whitley's gurnard perch)

Characteristics

Maxillicosta gurnard perches are small scorpaenid fishes that possess an expanded rear surface of the maxillary and the outer surface of the dentary has a number of clear, horizontal ridges. The maxillary, intraorbital and occipital areas of the head have no scales. They have 20-27 fin rays in the pectoral fins. Some of them do not have a swim bladder.[5] The smallest species is Whitley's gurnard perch which has a maximum total length of 7 cm (2.8 in) while the largest is the little gurnard perch which has a maximum total length of 12 cm (4.7 in).[4]
Distribution

Maxillicosta gurnard perches are found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and southeastern Indian Ocean with one species, M. reticulata, found in the Desventuradas Islands and Juan Fernández Islands in the southeastern Pacific.[4]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Neosebastidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Maxillicosta". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (22 May 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 8): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Families Sebastidae, Setarchidae and Neosebastidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Maxillicosta in FishBase. August 2021 version.
Bray, D.J. (2018). "Maxillicosta in Fishes of Australia". Museums Victoria. Retrieved 6 January 2022.