A Common Love of Science: The One-Hundredth Meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

One of the most important functions of an academic society such as the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) is to host conferences for colleagues to directly share and debate ideas and data. Academic society meetings have a long history that grew from social meetings of the privileged in the 16th and 17th centuries during which scientific topics were discussed. Scientific meetings of any nature can provide a stimulating environment to discuss and argue points (Unglow, 2002), as alluded to by Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) in the epigraph, which was written with fond memory of the Lunar Society meetings while he was in political exile (Priestley, 1793). In 1812, a gathering of local scientists formally established The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP), a society “to occupy their leisure, in each other\u27s company, on subjects of natural science” for “the advancement and diffusion of useful, liberal human knowledge.” The founders agreed that the ANSP would be “perpetually exclusive of political, religious and national partialities, antipathies, preventions and prejudices” to avoid potential conflicts with “the interests of science” (Stroud, 1997: 227). With the rise and specialization of academic societies, a concomitant specialization of scientific gatherings followed. Narrowly focused meetings have an important role in advancing the field specific to their topic, but regular (i.e., annual) discipline-wide conferences are important for both the tangible (e.g., presentation of fact) and intangible (e.g., inspiration of new avenues of study) effects they have on the attendees. Conferences also allow attendees the opportunity to conduct Society business through board and committee meetings. In 2021, the ASIH held its 100th in-person meeting, the third and final centennial to be celebrated by this Society (2013 was the 100th year of the Society\u27s journal, Copeia, now Ichthyology & Herpetology, Smith and Mitchell, 2013; 2016 was the 100th year of the ASIH\u27s founding, Hilton and Crump, 2016). This paper celebrates this milestone of the ASIH, and reflects upon the history of the ASIH conferences

The Regulation of miRNA-211 Expression and Its Role in Melanoma Cell Invasiveness

The immediate molecular mechanisms behind invasive melanoma are poorly understood. Recent studies implicate microRNAs (miRNAs) as important agents in melanoma and other cancers. To investigate the role of miRNAs in melanoma, we subjected human melanoma cell lines to miRNA expression profiling, and report a range of variations in several miRNAs. Specifically, compared with expression levels in melanocytes, levels of miR-211 were consistently reduced in all eight non-pigmented melanoma cell lines we examined; they were also reduced in 21 out of 30 distinct melanoma samples from patients, classified as primary in situ, regional metastatic, distant metastatic, and nodal metastatic. The levels of several predicted target mRNAs of miR-211 were reduced in melanoma cell lines that ectopically expressed miR-211. In vivo target cleavage assays confirmed one such target mRNA encoded by KCNMA1. Mutating the miR-211 binding site seed sequences at the KCNMA1 3′-UTR abolished target cleavage. KCNMA1 mRNA and protein expression levels varied inversely with miR-211 levels. Two different melanoma cell lines ectopically expressing miR-211 exhibited significant growth inhibition and reduced invasiveness compared with the respective parental melanoma cell lines. An shRNA against KCNMA1 mRNA also demonstrated similar effects on melanoma cells. miR-211 is encoded within the sixth intron of TRPM1, a candidate suppressor of melanoma metastasis. The transcription factor MITF, important for melanocyte development and function, is needed for high TRPM1 expression. MITF is also needed for miR-211 expression, suggesting that the tumor-suppressor activities of MITF and/or TRPM1 may at least partially be due to miR-211's negative post transcriptional effects on the KCNMA1 transcript. Given previous reports of high KCNMA1 levels in metastasizing melanoma, prostate cancer and glioma, our findings that miR-211 is a direct posttranscriptional regulator of KCNMA1 expression as well as the dependence of this miRNA's expression on MITF activity, establishes miR-211 as an important regulatory agent in human melanoma

New species of redbait from the Philippines (Teleostei, Emmelichthyidae, Emmelichthys)

We describe a new species of redbait in the genus Emmelichthys collected from fish markets on Panay and Cebu islands in the Visayas region of the Philippines. The species is externally similar to E. struhsakeri but is diagnosable by two prominent fleshy papillae associated with the cleithrum and fewer pectoral-fin rays (18–19 vs. 19–21) and gill rakers (30–33 vs. 34–41). Additionally, mitochondrial DNA differentiates this taxon from other species of Emmelichthys. We generate mitochondrial genomes for two of the three type specimens and several other emmelichthyids to place the new taxon in a phylogenetic context. Analysis of the protein-coding mitochondrial loci calls into question the monophyly of two emmelichthyid genera (Emmelichthys and Erythrocles) and highlights the need for subsequent analyses targeting the intrarelationships of the Emmelichthyidae

Mephisto albomaculosus Matsuura, Psomadakis, and Mya Than Tun 2018

<i>Mephisto albomaculosus</i> Matsuura, Psomadakis, and Mya Than Tun 2018 <p> <b>White Spotted Spikefish</b></p> <p> <i>Mephisto albomaculosus</i> Matsuura, Psomadakis, and Mya Than Tun 2018: 30–33: (original description; described from a single specimen, holotype: NSMT-P 132271; type locality: eastern Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, off Tanin- tharyi coast, southern Myanmar, Indian Ocean, 10°21.85′N, 96°44.83′E, R/ V <i>Dr. Fridtjof Nansen</i> Station 170, 379 m, 28 May 2015; etymology: refers to the white markings on the head and body; comparison of <i>M. albomaculosus</i> with <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i>).</p> <p> <i> <i>Material</i>.</i> Known only from the holotype (Matsuura <i>et al.</i>, 2018) and one photographed individual, presumed to be conspecific with the holotype, that was not retained (Fig. 1E, F).</p> <p> <i>Diagnosis.</i> A species of <i>Mephisto</i> with prominent white, rounded (more-or-less circular to oval) markings that are up to as large as the pupil diameter and located on the lower half of the body (Fig. 1E, F). Pelvic width 7.8% in SL; pelvic width into pelvic length 4.0 times; gill rakers 15; pseudobranch lamellae 16 (Matsuura <i>et al.</i>, 2018).</p> <p> <i>Description.</i> See Matsuura <i>et al.</i> (2018:31).</p> <p> <i>Geographic and depth distribution.</i> The holotype of <i>Mephisto albomaculosus</i> is from the Andaman Sea off Myanmar at 376– 379 m. The photograph of the referred specimen of <i>M.</i> cf. <i>albomaculosus</i> (specimen not retained) was collected in the Bay of Bengal at 74– 75 m.</p>Published as part of <i>Bemis, Katherine E., Tyler, James C., Psomadakis, Peter N., Ferris, Lauren Newell & Kumar, Appukuttannair Biju, 2020, Review of the Indian Ocean spikefish genus Mephisto (Tetraodontiformes Triacanthodidae), pp. 82-98 in Zootaxa 4802 (1)</i> on pages 94-95, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4802.1.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3991949">http://zenodo.org/record/3991949</a&gt

Mephisto Tyler 1966

Key to species of <i>Mephisto</i> <p> 1. Red to pink with lighter, almost white, areas and with darker red blotches below spinous dorsal fin, below posterior part of soft dorsal fin, and above pectoral fin from behind eye; ventral part of head, beginning under eye, light in coloration. Spinous dorsal fin mostly dark red; soft dorsal and anal fins white proximal to body and darker at distal tips (see Fig. 1 A–D). In alcohol, blotchy pattern remains and darkest red areas in life are brown (see Fig. 4A). Pelvic width 10.6–12.1% SL, pelvic width into pelvic length 2.6–3.2 times; 16–19 gill rakers; 17–20 pseudobranch lamellae…................. <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i></p> <p> 2. Red with lighter, almost white, areas and with darker red blotches and prominent ventral, white, rounded (more-or-less circular to oblong) markings of up to as large as pupil diameter, to about half-way up body (see Fig. 1E, F). Pelvic width 7.8% SL, pelvic width into pelvic length 4.0 times; 15 gill rakers; 16 pseudobranch lamellae (measurements and counts based on holotype only)............................................................................ <i>Mephisto albomaculosus</i></p>Published as part of <i>Bemis, Katherine E., Tyler, James C., Psomadakis, Peter N., Ferris, Lauren Newell & Kumar, Appukuttannair Biju, 2020, Review of the Indian Ocean spikefish genus Mephisto (Tetraodontiformes Triacanthodidae), pp. 82-98 in Zootaxa 4802 (1)</i> on page 96, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4802.1.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3991949">http://zenodo.org/record/3991949</a&gt

Mephisto fraserbrunneri Tyler 1966

<i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> Tyler 1966 <p> <b>Devil’s Spikefish</b></p> <p> <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> Tyler 1966a: 1–5 (original description; based upon a single specimen, holotype: ANSP 103314, type locality: eastern Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, off southern Myanmar, Indian Ocean, 10°39′N, 97°06′E, R/ V <i>Anton Bruun</i>, Station 22B, 159 fathoms (= 290 m), 24 March 1963; etymology: species named in honor of A. Fraser-Brunner for his pioneering revisions of many families of plectognaths). Tyler, 1966b: 4 (considered to be a generalized triacanthodid). Tyler, 1968: 133–138 (description, proposed relationships, illustration of pelvis and scales, photograph of BAH IOES-201 (= ZMH 5629)). Tyler, 1980 (summary of proposed relationships as given in Tyler (1968)). Shcherbachev <i>et al.</i>, 1986: 208 (description of USNM 350153; specimen identified as <i>Mephisto</i> sp. because scales have several spinules that are bifurcate). Tyler, 1986: 887 (<i>Mephisto</i> included in key). Gorelova <i>et al.</i>, 1993: 225 (mesobenthic species, captured on Error Seamount; stomach contents of 105 mm SL specimen (now USNM 350153) contained chitin fragments and peropods of a gammarid). Manilo and Bogorodsky, 2003: S123 (listed only). Matsuura, 2015: 75, 76 (range includes Somalia, Arabian Sea, and Andaman Sea). Mullasseri <i>et al.</i>, 2017: 76–81 (comparison of seven specimens from Andaman Islands of putative <i>Paratriacanthodes retrospinis</i> with data from Tyler (1968) on <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i>, but critical diagnostic measurements, such as length of gill opening, not provided, and the single specimen illustrated (figs. 2, 3, both in color; fresh and after preservation of the same specimen) of putative <i>P. retrospinis</i> has the typical blotchy color pattern and long gill opening that is diagnostic of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> rather than the horizontally lined pattern and shorter gill opening typical of <i>P. retrospinis</i>; these specimens require re-examination for proper identification). Matsuura <i>et al.</i>, 2018: 30–33 (comparison of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> with <i>M. albomaculosus</i>).</p> <p> <i>Material.</i> Known from the holotype ANSP 103314, seven additional specimens, and two separate photographic records of individuals that were not retained (Table 1).</p> <p> <i>Diagnosis.</i> A species of <i>Mephisto</i> with red to pink coloration and lighter, almost white, areas and darker red blotches; the ventral part of the head and body beginning under the eye is light in coloration, but no white, rounded markings are present (Fig. 1 A–D). Pelvic width 10.6–12.1% SL; pelvic width into pelvic length 2.6–3.2 times; gill rakers 16–19; pseudobranch lamellae 17–20.</p> <p> <i>Description.</i> Data on meristics (Table 2), proportional measurements (Table 3), and additional characters (Table 4) are summarized for all eight specimens.</p> <p> <i> <i>Coloration.</i> Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> is red to pink with lighter, almost white, areas and darker red blotches (Fig. 1 A–D). The darkest red regions are below the spinous dorsal fin, below the posterior part of the soft dorsal fin, and above the pectoral fin from behind the eye. The ventral part of the head, beginning under the eye, is light in coloration. The spinous dorsal fin is predominantly dark red, whereas the soft dorsal and anal fins are white proximal to the body and darker distally. In alcohol, the blotchy pattern remains, and the darkest red areas in life are brown (Fig. 4A). The peritoneum and branchial cavity are tan to blackish and speckled with darker spots (Table 4).</p> <p> <i>Description of scales during ontogeny.</i> The scales of <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> begin with a single spinule and increase in number of spinules during their ontogeny; the branching of spinules also increases with specimen length. Matsuura <i>et al.</i> (2018: fig 2) described the scales of <i>M. albomaculosus</i> as differing from those of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> because the scales of <i>M. albomaculosus</i> have a bifurcate spinule at the base of the central spinule (Fig. 5D). However, the new specimens reported herein increase the size range known for <i>M. fraserbrunneri,</i> and we now have more information on how the number of spinules and their branches change throughout ontogeny (Table 4). We confirm that large <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> (DABFUK/FI/ 302, 102.7 mm SL and USNM 350153 105.8 mm SL) have up to six spinules per scale, with 1–3 branched spinules and the central and largest spinule having a bifurcate spinule at the base (Fig. 5). Thus, having a bifurcate spine on the central spinule is not diagnostic for <i>Mephisto</i> species. Shcherbachev <i>et al.</i> (1986) identified USNM 350153 as <i>Mephisto</i> sp. because at the time it was collected and examined only two small specimens of <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> were known, and each had scales with a single, unbranched spinule; we recognize the multiple spinule pattern present in the largest specimens as representing an advanced stage of ontogeny (Fig. 5 A–C).</p> <p> <i> <i>Description of teeth and tooth replacement.</i> Mephisto</i> has relatively few stoutly conical teeth that are larger in the anterior part of the jaw and smaller posterolaterally on the premaxilla and dentary (Table 2; Fig. 6). Teeth are re- placed intraosseously (Fig. 6). Teeth develop underneath functional teeth and erupt on the labial side of the jaw. There is no obvious pattern of replacement; several teeth in the jaws of various specimens were in the process of replacement. For example, in the specimen shown in Figure 6, there are nine teeth in both the left and right premaxillae; two or three teeth are undergoing replacement (loci 3 and 7 in the left premaxilla; loci 1, 3, and 9 in the right premaxilla). On each side of the left and right dentary there are 11 teeth; two to four teeth are undergoing replacement (loci 2 and 10 on the left dentary and loci 1, 3, 7, and 9 on the right dentary). In the right dentary, locus 1 has an eroding tooth and an erupting replacement tooth beneath it.</p> <p> <i>Diet.</i> Three specimens of <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> had stomach contents: DABFUK/FI/304 contained primarily foraminiferans and secondarily pteropods. Both planktic (<i>Globorotalia menardii, Globigerinella siphonifera, Globigerinoides ruber, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei,</i> and <i>Trilobatus sacculifer</i>) and benthic (<i>Bolivina</i> and <i>Uvigerina</i>) foraminiferans were present (Brian Huber, pers. comm., 2020). Pteropod shells, as well as several scaphopods and an echinoderm spine, were also in the stomach. The shells of these organisms had sediment on them, and the foraminiferans did not appear to have been ingested alive. USNM 306629 had well-digested amphipods in its stomach. The largest specimen, USNM 350153, had chitin fragments and peropods of a gammarid in its stomach (Gorelova <i>et al.</i>, 1993), which were lost when it was cleared and stained. Based upon this data, we conclude that <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> feeds on a diversity of small organisms found on or in bottom sediment.</p> <p> <i>Geographic and depth distribution.</i> The holotype of <i>Mephisto fraserbrunneri</i> was collected in the Andaman Sea off Myanmar. Three of the eight known specimens of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> were collected off Somalia. The four most recently collected specimens of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> were caught off Kerala on the southwest coast of India in the Lakshadweep Sea (Fig. 2). All eight specimens of <i>M. fraserbrunneri</i> were caught in bottom trawls at depths of 176–415 m (Table 1).</p>Published as part of <i>Bemis, Katherine E., Tyler, James C., Psomadakis, Peter N., Ferris, Lauren Newell & Kumar, Appukuttannair Biju, 2020, Review of the Indian Ocean spikefish genus Mephisto (Tetraodontiformes Triacanthodidae), pp. 82-98 in Zootaxa 4802 (1)</i> on pages 90-94, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4802.1.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3991949">http://zenodo.org/record/3991949</a&gt

Data from: Functional coupling in the evolution of suction feeding and gill ventilation of sculpins (Perciformes: Cottoidei)

Suction feeding and gill ventilation in teleosts are functionally coupled, meaning that there is an overlap in the structures involved with both functions. Functional coupling is one type of morphological integration, a term that broadly refers to any covariation, correlation, or coordination among structures. Suction feeding and gill ventilation exhibit other types of morphological integration, including functional coordination (a tendency of structures to work together to perform a function) and evolutionary integration (a tendency of structures to covary in size or shape across evolutionary history). Functional coupling, functional coordination, and evolutionary integration have each been proposed to limit morphological diversification to some extent. Yet teleosts show extraordinary cranial diversity, suggesting that there are mechanisms within some teleost clades that promote morphological diversification, even within the highly integrated suction feeding and gill ventilatory systems. To investigate this, we quantified evolutionary integration among four mechanical units associated with suction feeding and gill ventilation in a diverse clade of benthic, primarily suction-feeding fishes (Cottoidei; sculpins and relatives). We reconstructed cottoid phylogeny using molecular data from 108 species, and obtained 24 linear measurements of four mechanical units (jaws, hyoid, opercular bones, and branchiostegal rays) from micro-CT reconstructions of 44 cottoids and one outgroup taxon. We tested for evolutionary correlation and covariation among the four mechanical units using phylogenetically corrected principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality of measurements for each unit, followed by correlating phylogenetically independent contrasts and computing phylogenetic generalized least squares models from the first principle component axis of each of the four mechanical units. The jaws, opercular bones, and branchiostegal rays show evolutionary integration, but the hyoid is not positively integrated with these units. To examine these results in an ecomorphological context, we used published ecological data in phylogenetic ANOVA models to demonstrate that the jaw is larger in fishes that eat elusive or grasping prey (e.g., prey that can easily escape or cling to the substrate) and that the hyoid is smaller in intertidal and hypoxia-tolerant sculpins. Within Cottoidei, the relatively independent evolution of the hyoid likely has reduced limitations on morphological evolution within the highly morphologically integrated suction feeding and gill ventilatory systems

Trees, data files, and R script

besttree_icz022.tree = maximum clade credibility tree from best MrBayes run; cottoidei.run1.t = posterior distribution of trees from best MrBayes run; Functional Couping Stats icz022.R = R Script for all analyses in this study; ctdata_icz022.txt = morphological measurements from micro-CT scans of 45 species; CSV files = ecological dat

Mephisto Tyler 1966

MephistoTyler 1966 Mephisto Tyler 1966a: 1–5 (original description; type species Mephisto fraserbrunneri Tyler 1966; etymology: genus named for the devil Mephisto, second only to Satan in the Faustian legend of Mephistopheles, in allusion to the reddish exterior, blackish interior (peritoneum), and the retrose-barbed dorsal-fin spines being the equivalent of horns in the type species). Species. The genus Mephisto contains two species: Mephisto fraserbrunneri Tyler 1966 and Mephisto albomaculosus Matsuura, Psomadakis, and Mya Than Tun 2018. Subfamilial placement. The two subfamilies of Triacanthodidae are diagnosed primarily by features in two different regions of the skeleton: the posterior process of the pelvis and the posterodorsal region of the skull. The width, shape, and structure of the posterior process of the pelvis (Fig. 3A, B) is visible externally; the shape of the supraoccipital and its relationship to the epioccipitals is only visible internally (Fig. 3C, D; see Tyler, 1968: 62; 1980: 56). The Hollardiinae (Hollardia, Parahollardia, western Atlantic, except one species in Pacific Oceania) have a shaft-like posterior process of the pelvis that is relatively rounded in ventral view and is not much wider between the bases of the pelvic spines than at the blunt posterior end, and they have a dome-like supraoccipital that separates the contralateral epioccipitals posteriorly on the dorsal surface of the skull. The Triacanthodinae (all other extant genera, Indo-Pacific except one species in western Atlantic) have a basin-like posterior process of the pelvis that is flat ventrally, with slightly dorsally upturned lateral edges, and is wider anteriorly between the pelvic spines than posteriorly where it tapers to an end (see Tyler, 1968 for illustrations of the posterior process of the pelvis in all genera of triacanthodids), and they have a flattened supraoccipital with a median crest that does not separate the epioccipitals posteriorly on the dorsal surface of the skull. The only fossil triacanthodids are two taxa from the Oligocene of the Polish Carpathian Mountains, the hollardiin Prohollardia and the triacanthodin Carpathospinus. The two triacanthodid subfamilies diverged no less than 29 to 24 MYA (see Tyler et al., 1993). * 1 tooth offset from main series of teeth. Mephisto fraserbrunneri has the diagnostic characters of the Triacanthodinae (Fig. 3). Mephisto albomaculosus has the pelvic characters of triacanthodins, but the shape of its supraoccipital and its articulation with the epioccipitals is not known; presumably it is typical of triacanthodins. Diagnosis. The genus Mephisto is distinguished from all other triacanthodids by a long gill opening (13.5– 17.6% SL; Table 3), with its lower edge reaching slightly below the lower edge of the lobe of the pectoral-fin base (Fig. 4A; see Tyler, 1968: figs. 137, 150, 164, 173 for comparisons of length of gill opening across ontogeny for all genera). Description. (1) Pelvis thin and basin-like, its ventral surface flat but with slightly upturned edges; width between the pelvic-fin spines moderate to somewhat narrowed (diagnostically different between the two species, with M. fraserbrunneri 10.6–12.1% SL and M. albomaculosus 7.8% SL); pelvic width into the pelvic length 2.6–4.0 times (likewise diagnostically different between the two species, with M. fraserbrunneri 2.6–3.2 times and M. albomaculosus 4.0 times). (2) Deep bodied (45.8–54.2% SL). (3) Short snouted (12.4–14.5% SL). (4) Long postorbital length (11.6–13.2% SL). (5) Six dorsal-fin spines decreasing gradually in length from the first to the short last spine, all visible externally (Table 2). (6) Origin of the anal fin distinctly posterior to the origin of the soft dorsal fin. (7) Mouth terminal, with a moderate number of conical teeth (17–25 in upper jaw and 19–27 in lower jaw; Table 2; Matsuura et al., 2018) in a single series with no teeth internal to them (one specimen of M. fraserbrunneri has one lower jaw tooth slightly offset posteriorly from the main row, but we do not interpret this as an internal tooth sensu Tyler, 1968:58). (8) Few olfactory lamellae (9–11; Table 2; Matsuura et al., 2018). (9) Moderate number of gill rakers (15–19; Table 2; Matsuura et al., 2018). (10) Pseudobranch with a moderate number of lamellae (16–20; Table 2; Matsuura et al., 2018), the lower edge of the base of the pseudobranch level with the upper edge of the lobe of the pectoral-fin base (Table 4; Matsuura et al., 2018). (11) Few spinules per scale, consisting of one large central spinule and smaller spinules dorsal and ventral to it that increase in number and branching during ontogeny; only a single spinule present in scales of smallest known specimens (DABFUK/FI/304, 48.6 mm SL and ANSP 103314, 52.2 mm SL; Table 4); some spinules are branched in large specimens (e.g., Fig. 5; USNM 350153, 105.8 mm SL, DABFUK/FI/ 302, 102.7 mm SL, and NSMT-P 132271, 94.4 mm SL; Table 4; Matsuura et al., 2018). (12) Retrose barbs on dorsal- and pelvic-fin spines (Fig. 3). (13) Pelvic fin with only one soft ray. (14) Small patch of isolated spinulose scales on middle of upper surface of dorsal lip (Fig. 6). Geographic and depth distribution and physical environment. Specimens and photographs of Mephisto are known from the Indian Ocean from off Somalia to Myanmar (Fig. 2), from 74 m to 446 m (Table 1). Preliminary analysis, based on World Ocean Atlas 2018, suggests that Mephisto occurs in waters of 10.2–25.3°C and salinity of 34.00–35.43 psu (Table 5); however, more specimens are needed to confirm this because both salinity and temperature ranges were expanded by photographic records of unretained specimens of M. albomaculosus and M. fraserbrunneri. ...Continued on the next pagePublished as part of Bemis, Katherine E., Tyler, James C., Psomadakis, Peter N., Ferris, Lauren Newell & Kumar, Appukuttannair Biju, 2020, Review of the Indian Ocean spikefish genus Mephisto (Tetraodontiformes Triacanthodidae), pp. 82-98 in Zootaxa 4802 (1) on pages 86-89, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4802.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/399194