Lestrolepis Harry, 1953

Lestrolepis Harry, 1953a:240 (Type species Paralepis philippinus Fowler, 1934, a junior synonym of Lestrolepis Japonica).

Diagnosis. Body scaleless, except for the lateral line covered by a single row of scales; luminescent duct present, originating from below opercle and divided into two branches immediately; a light organ (black papilla) in front of eye; a luminescent duct along lower margin of orbit in some species; DFO well behind VFO; ventral adipose fin well developed between anus and anal fin; dorsal-fin rays 9; anal-fin rays 32–43; pelvic-fin rays 9; vertebrae: prehaemal 28–35, predorsal 36–46, caudal 52–66, and total 82–98. Dorsal surface light grayish, chromatophores cover upper fourth or fifth of body, head and caudal region. Ventral ridge between pectoral and pelvic fins variously with pigment.

Remarks. Lestrolepis currently includes four species, Ll. Japonica from western Pacific Ocean, Ll. intermedia from western central Atlantic Ocean, Ll. pofi from Indo-Pacific ocean (including Hawaii) and Ll. nigroventralis sp. nov. from the western Pacific. Although the genus previously included Lestrolepis luetkeni (Ege, 1933), as a senior synonym of Ll. Pofi, this species is now recognized as a member of Lestidiops (Ho & Golani, 2019) .