Apistops caloundra (De Vis, 1886)
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
Apistops is a monotypic genus of wasp scorpionfishes belonging to the subfamily Apistinae in the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. Its only species is the short-armed waspfish (Apistops caloundra), also known as the shortfinned waspfish or shortspine waspfish. This species is found in the Indian and Pacific waters from Papua New Guinea, the Arafura Sea and northwest Australia. It is a demersal fish found on the inshore area of the continental shelf at depths between 19 and 49 m (62 and 161 ft). This species grows to a length of 19 centimetres (7.5 in) SL.
Apistops was first described as a genus in 1911 by the Australian ichthyologist James Douglas Ogilby for Apistus caloundra, a species which had been described in 1886 by the English zoologist Charles Walter De Vis who gave the type locality as Caloundra in Queensland. The genus name Apistops means "lookong like Apistus, the genus it was originally placed in by De Vis and the specific name refers to the type locality.
Wikipedia contributors, Apistops; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:02:45.536485+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Apistops caloundra (De Vis, 1886)
- Name authority
- (De Vis, 1886)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Apistidae
- Genus
- Apistops
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderScorpaenoidei
- familyApistidae Gill, 1859
- genusApistops Ogilby, 1911
- speciesApistops caloundra (De Vis, 1886)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Apistus caloundra De Vis, 1886 De Vis, 1886 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=279643 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:FNDV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.