Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 14, 2026

Pteroinae

Pteroinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes in the family Scorpaenidae. This tribe includes the lionfishes, sawcheek scorpionfishes, and turkeyfishes. Previously, the fifth edition of Fishes of the World treated this group as a tribe within the subfamily Scorpaeninae of the family Scorpaenidae within the order Scorpaeniformes, while other authorities treat it as a subfamily within a reduced family Scorpaenidae within the suborder Scorpaenoidei, or the superfamily Scorpaenoidea within the order Perciformes. Presently, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes treats it as a subfamily within Scorpaenidae.

Last revised
Jul 14, 2026
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Pteroinae
Temporal range:
Pterois volitans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Scorpaenidae
Subfamily: Pteroinae
Kaup, 18731
Type species
Scorpaena volitans
Bloch, 17872
Genera

See text

Pteroinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes in the family Scorpaenidae. This tribe includes the lionfishes, sawcheek scorpionfishes, and turkeyfishes. Previously, the fifth edition of Fishes of the World treated this group as a tribe within the subfamily Scorpaeninae of the family Scorpaenidae within the order Scorpaeniformes,3 while other authorities treat it as a subfamily within a reduced family Scorpaenidae within the suborder Scorpaenoidei,4 or the superfamily Scorpaenoidea within the order Perciformes.5 Presently, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes treats it as a subfamily within Scorpaenidae.6

Genera

These seven extant genera are included in the subfamily Pteroinae, in 29 species:7

Image Genus
Brachypterois Fowler, 1938
Dendrochirus Swainson, 1839
Ebosia Jordan & Starks, 1904
Nemapterois Fowler, 1938
Neochirus Chou, Liu & Liao, 2023
Parapterois Bleeker, 1876
Pterois Oken, 1817
Pteropterus Swainson, 1839

Fossil record

The only fossil record of the family is †Eopterois,Schwarzhans, Stringer & Takeuchi, 2024 known from fossil otoliths from the Middle Eocene of Mississippi, US.8

References

References

  1. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  2. Gilbert Whitley (1939). "Ichthyological genotypes: Desmarest's designations, 1874". Australian Zoologist. 9 (3): 222–226.
  3. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 468–475. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  4. Ricardo Betancur-R; Edward O. Wiley; Gloria Arratia; et al. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17 (162) 162. Bibcode:2017BMCEE..17..162B. doi:10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3. PMC 5501477. PMID 28683774.
  5. Hisashi Imamura (2004). "Phylogenetic Relationships and New Classification of the Superfamily Scorpaenoidea (Actinopterygii: Perciformes)". Species Diversity. 9: 1–36. doi:10.12782/specdiv.9.1.
  6. Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences.
  7. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Pteroinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  8. SCHWARZHANS, WERNER W.; STRINGER, GARY L.; TAKEUCHI, GARY T. (2024-07-16). "The Middle Eocene Bony Fish Fauna of California, USA, Reconstructed by Means of Otoliths". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 130 (2) 22783. Bibcode:2024RIPS..13022783S. doi:10.54103/2039-4942/22783. ISSN 2039-4942.