Taeniopsetta Gilbert, 1905

Amaoka, Kunio & Ho, Hsuan-Ching, 2019, The lefteye flounder family Bothidae (Order Pleuronectiformes) of Taiwan, Zootaxa 4702 (1), pp. 155-215 : 207-208

Genus Taeniopsetta Gilbert, 1905

Taeniopsetta Gilbert, 1905:680 . Type species: Taeniopsetta radula Gilbert, 1905 . Diagnostic features. Body deeply ovoid. Tip of isthmus below posterior margin of lower eye. No sexual or ontogenetic dimorphism in dorsal head profile. Both eyes separated by ridge or very narrow concavity; interorbital width constant in both sexes and juveniles. Rostral, orbital and mandibular spines present in males, feeble or absence in females and juveniles.

Mouth small in size; maxilla extending to anterior margin of lower eye. Teeth on both jaws uniserial, not enlarged anteriorly. Gill rakers short, usually not serrated. Scales small, not deciduous, cycloid or ctenoid on ocular side, cycloid on blind side. Lateral line on ocular side curved above pectoral fin; lateral line absent on blind side.

Dorsal and anal fins with elongate rays in either sexes or males only; all rays simple. Pectoral fin on ocular side not elongate. Pelvic fin on ocular side starting behind tip of isthmus; first ray on blind side opposite to second ray on ocular side. Vent on blind side, just before origin of anal fin, and urogenital pore on ocular side, opposite side of vent. Caudal skeleton with four plates including parhypural and three hypurals, without deep clefts. Five suborbital bones on blind side.

Remarks. Taeniopsetta was assigned to the Paralichthyidae based on the position and asymmetrical degree of pelvic fins ( Norman, 1934). Subsequently, it was assigned to the Bothidae because of the presence of intermuscular bones and lack of a first neural spine by Amaoka (1969). Taeniopsetta differs from other bothids in having a somewhat narrower base of the pelvic fin on the ocular side, its origin behind the tip of the isthmus, and many suborbital bones on blind side.