Trachinus

Trachinus Temporal range: Oligocene-Holocene
Trachinus draco
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Division:	Teleostei
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Trachinidae
Genus:	Trachinus Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Corystion Rafinesque, 1810 Pseudotrachinus Bleeker, 1861

Trachinus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the weever family Trachinidae consisting of eight extant species and a few extinct species. All species of the genus inhabit the waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean with the exception of T. cornutus, which inhabits the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Three of the seven Atlantic species occur near the coasts of Europe.

Etymology

The genus name, given by Linnaeus, is from trachina, which is the Medieval Latin name for the fish. This name is in turn is from the Ancient Greek word τρᾱχύς (trachýs, meaning "rough").

Species list

The eight extant species of the genus are:

• Trachinus araneus Cuvier, 1829 (spotted weever)
• Trachinus armatus Bleeker, 1861 (Guinean weever)
• Trachinus collignoni Roux, 1957 (sailfin weever)
• Trachinus cornutus Guichenot, 1848
• Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758 (greater weever)
• Trachinus lineolatus Fischer, 1885 (striped weever)
• Trachinus pellegrini Cadenat, 1937 (Cape Verde weever)
• Trachinus radiatus Cuvier, 1829 (starry weever)

Three extinct species have also been placed in this genus:

• † Trachinus minutus (Jonet, 1958) (Oligocene, Carpathian Mountains)
• † Trachinus dracunculus Heckel, 1849 (Miocene, Piemonte, Italy)
• † Trachinus maroccanus Than-Marchese et al., 2023 (Pliocene, Morocco)