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whiteface waspfish

Richardsonichthys leucogaster (Richardson, 1848)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

Richardsonichthys, is a monotypic genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, the waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. The only species in the genus is the whiteface waspfish (Richardsonichthys leucogaster), also known as the whitebelly roguefish, rouge fish, Torres Strait soldier fish or Richardson's waspfish. This species is native to reefs of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Wikipedia contributors, Richardsonichthys; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:34:54.487512+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Richardsonichthys leucogaster (Richardson, 1848)
Name authority
(Richardson, 1848)
Common name
whiteface waspfish
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Perciformes
Family
Tetrarogidae
Genus
Richardsonichthys
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderPerciformes
  11. suborderScorpaenoidei
  12. familyTetrarogidae Smith, 1949
  13. genusRichardsonichthys Smith, 1958
  14. speciesRichardsonichthys leucogaster (Richardson, 1848)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 37 records assigned to Tetrarogidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Tetraroge leucogaster (Richardson, 1848) (Richardson, 1848)synonym
Tetraroge darnleyensis Alleyne & MacLeay, 1877 Alleyne & MacLeay, 1877synonym
Apistes leucogaster Richardson, 1848 Richardson, 1848synonym

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215623 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4SZMK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.