Cheilopogon (Ptenichthys), Muller, 1843

Shakhovskoy, Ilia B. & Parin, Nikolay V., 2019, A review of the flying fish genus Cypselurus (Beloniformes: Exocoetidae). Part 1. Revision of the subgenus Zonocypselurus Parin and Bogorodsky, 2011 with descriptions of one new subgenus, four new species and two new subspecies and reinstatement of one species as valid, Zootaxa 4589 (1), pp. 1-71 : 36

Subgenus Ptenichthys Müller, 1843

The subgenus Ptenichthys until now included 10 species: circumtropical Ch. furcatus (with 3 subspecies), Atlantic Ch. heterurus and Ch. melanurus, Indo-West Pacific Ch. intermedius and Ch. arcticeps (absent in the Western Indian Ocean), Western North Pacific Ch. doederleinii , Eastern North Pacific Ch. hubbsi , Eastern South Pacific Ch. ventralis , Central Pacific Ch. unicolor (= Ch. antoncichi , = Ch. longibarbus ), western Australia Ch. olgae and southern Australia Ch. cf. heterurus .

Our study revealed that 3 species of the subgenus Ptenichthys have previously been erroneously attributed to C. hexazona ; one of them, Ch. katherinae sp. nov., only in the adult stage. Two other species have been attributed in the juvenile stage due to the presence of 5–6 transverse bands on the body and the absence of barbels (or the presence of very small barbels that have not been noticed by researchers). In the present work, we designate these species as Cheilopogon sp.1 and Cheilopogon sp.2. Features of body and fin pigmentation and morphology of chin barbels that are present in some individuals of Cheilopogon sp.1 suggest these species belong to the subgenus Ptenichthys . A taxonomic revision of the subgenus Ptenichthys is necessary to determine to which species these juveniles belong.