- Animals
- ›Chordates
- ›Vertebrates
- ›Ray-finned Fishes
- ›Spiny-rayed fishes
- ›Toadfishes
- ›Toadfishes
- ›Midshipman Fishes
Midshipmen
Porichthys
Midshipman fish belong to the genus Porichthys of toadfishes. They are distinguished by having photophores (which they use to attract prey and after which they are named, reminding some of a naval uniform's buttons) and four lateral lines. Typical midshipman fishes, such as the plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus), are nocturnal and bury themselves in sand or mud in the intertidal zone during the day. At night they float just above the seabed. Some species have venomous...
14 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 14 known species
Plainfin Midshipman
speciesPorichthys notatus
Atlantic Midshipman
speciesPorichthys plectrodon
Atlantic Midshipman
speciesPorichthys porosissimus
Specklefin Midshipman
speciesPorichthys myriaster
Daisy Midshipman
speciesPorichthys margaritatus
Shorthead Midshipman
speciesPorichthys greenei
Mimetic Midshipman
speciesPorichthys mimeticus
Darkedge Midshipman
speciesPorichthys analis
Porichthys pauciradiatus
speciesPorichthys pauciradiatus
Saddle Midshipman
speciesPorichthys ephippiatus
Small-eye midshipman
speciesPorichthys oculellus
Porichthys oculofrenum
speciesPorichthys oculofrenum
Deepwater Midshipman
speciesPorichthys bathoiketes
Porichthys kymosemeum
speciesPorichthys kymosemeum
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Porichthys in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 60022.