Kathetostoma

Gomon, Martin F. & Roberts, Clive D., 2011, A second New Zealand species of the stargazer genus Kathetostoma (Trachinoidei: Uranoscopidae), Zootaxa 2776, pp. 1-12 : 3

Genus Kathetostoma

Kathetostoma Günther, 1860: 231 (type species Uranoscopus laevis Bloch & Schneider, 1801 , by monotypy)

Cathetostoma Gill, 1861: 114 ; Boulenger 1901: 266 (an incorrect subsequent spelling of Kathetostoma Günther )

Diagnosis. Body naked; head square to rectangular in cross section; eyes directed upward, small; bony orbital rim separated medially by naked rectangular space; mouth with several prominent canines between smaller canines; chin smoothly curved, without tabular (plectroid) processes or fleshy barbel; lips with short ridge-like crenulations; ventral margin of preopercle with four spine-like processes; anterior end of isthmus with a pair of prominent forward directed spines; prominent cleithral spine sheathed with skin above pectoral fin base without fringe ventrally; scales absent; lateral line pores in skin high on side close to base of dorsal fin. Dorsal fin continuous, with 13–18 segmented rays, lacking separate spinous section anteriorly or short nub-like spines unconnected by membranes anteriorly on back; anal fin with 12–18 segmented rays; pectoral fins huge, fan-like; pelvic fins moderately large.

Distribution. Temperate and cool tropical parts of Australia and New Zealand in the Indo-West Pacific, the central part of the west coast of the Americas in the Eastern Pacific and the central Western Atlantic.

Comments. The two widely separated species complexes with contrasting tropical and temperate distributions that constitute this genus, with relationships supported by genetic evidence ( Smith et al, 2006), is unusual for the family, but at least two other uranoscopid genera, Ichthyscopus Swainson, 1839 and Xenocephalus Kaup, 1858 have both low and high latitude species.