Cociella heemstrai

Cociella heemstrai is a species of demersal, marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. It is found in the western Indian Ocean off eastern Africa and Madagascar. Its biology is little know but it is caught by fisheries.

Cociella heemstrai
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Platycephalidae
Genus: Cociella
Species:
C. heemstrai
Binomial name
Cociella heemstrai
Knapp, 1996

Taxonomy

Cociella heemstrai was first formally described in 1996 by Leslie William Knapp with the type locality given as Kenya.[2] These fishes were previously regarded as a population of the crocodile flathead (C. crocodilus) but were recognised as a valid species in 1996.[3]

Etymology

The specific name honours the American-South African ichthyologist Philip C. Heemstra of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity in recognition of his assistance to Knapp's studies of flatheads.[4]

Description

Cociella heemstrai is one of the species of Cociella which has 12 soft rays in the first dorsal fin and in the anal fin and have between 9 and 11 gill rakers on the first gill arch. There is a vivid yellow bar in the centre of the caudal fin, dark bands over the back and 4 or 5 paired white spots on the upper body.[3] This species reaches a maximum size of 17.1 cm (6.7 in).[1]

Distribution and habitat

Cociella heemstrai is found in the western Indian Ocean from Kenya in the north south to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal as well as being found in Madagascar.[1] This is a demersal fish which can be found down to depths of 280 m (920 ft).[5]

Biology

Cociella heemstrai is abundant but little is known about its population, life history and ecology.[1]

Fisheries

Cociella heemstrai is commonly caught in trawls and when using seine nets in shallow estuaries.[1]

References
  1. Motomura, H.; Matsuura, K. & Khan, M. (2018). "Cociella heemstrai". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T114173026A114173033. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T114173026A114173033.en. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Cociella". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  3. Leslie W. Knapp (1996). "Review of the genus Cociella Whitley (Teleostei: Platycephalidae) with the description of three new species". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 109 (1): 17–33.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (7 December 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Platycephaloidei: Families Bembridae, Parabembridae, Hoplichthyidae, Platycephalidae and Plectrogeniidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  5. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Cociella heemstrai" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
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