WoRMS taxon details
Polydactylus octonemus (Girard, 1858)
159852 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:159852)
accepted
Species
Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858 · unaccepted (basionym)
Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861 · unaccepted
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
(of Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858) Girard, C. F. (1858). Notes upon various new genera and new species of fishes, in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and collected in connection with the United States and Mexican boundary survey: Major William Emory, Commissioner. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> 10: 167-171., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47535762#page/187/mode/1up [details]
Type locality contained in Texas
type locality contained in Texas [from synonym] [view taxon] [details]
Distribution Western Atlantic: New York to Texas, including southern Florida in USA. Some authors report this species as occurring...
Distribution Western Atlantic: New York to Texas, including southern Florida in USA. Some authors report this species as occurring throughout northern South America [details]
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2026). FishBase. Polydactylus octonemus (Girard, 1858). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159852 on 2026-07-09
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Nomenclature
original description
(of Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858) Girard, C. F. (1858). Notes upon various new genera and new species of fishes, in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and collected in connection with the United States and Mexican boundary survey: Major William Emory, Commissioner. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> 10: 167-171., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47535762#page/187/mode/1up [details]
original description (of Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861) Gill, T. N. (1861). Synopsis of the polynematoids. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> v. 13: 271-282. [details]
basis of record Robins, C. R.; Ray, G. C.; Douglass, J.; Freund, R. (1986). A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. <em>Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston.</em> 1-354. [details]
original description (of Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861) Gill, T. N. (1861). Synopsis of the polynematoids. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> v. 13: 271-282. [details]
basis of record Robins, C. R.; Ray, G. C.; Douglass, J.; Freund, R. (1986). A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. <em>Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston.</em> 1-354. [details]
Ecology
ecology source
Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. <em>Scientific Data.</em> 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details] 
Other
additional source
McEachran, J. D. (2009). Fishes (Vertebrata: Pisces) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1223–1316 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas. [details]
additional source Motomura, H. (2004). Threadfins of the world (Family Polynemidae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of polynemid species known to date. FAO Spec. Cat. Fish. Purp. Rome: FAO. 3:117 p., available online at http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5398e/y5398e00.htm [details]
additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2026). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (04/2025)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]
additional source Motomura, H. (2004). Threadfins of the world (Family Polynemidae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of polynemid species known to date. FAO Spec. Cat. Fish. Purp. Rome: FAO. 3:117 p., available online at http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5398e/y5398e00.htm [details]
additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2026). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (04/2025)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]
Present
Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio
Inaccurate
Introduced: alien
Containing type locality
Syntype (of Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858) ANSP 22900 [details]
Syntype (of Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858) USNM 739 [details]
Unreviewed
Distribution Western Atlantic: New York to Texas, including southern Florida in USA. Some authors report this species as occurring throughout northern South America [details]Habitat benthic [details]
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Atlantic threadfin | [details] |
| French | barbure huit doigts atlantique | [details] |
| Spanish | barbudo ocho dedos atlánticobarbudo ocho barbas | [details] |
To Barcode of Life (9 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (26 publications) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (43 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (9 publications) (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Polydactylus octonemus)
To FishBase
To FishBase (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To FishBase (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To GenBank (34 nucleotides; 31 proteins) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To GenBank (34 nucleotides; 31 proteins)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Polydactylus octonemus USNM 396306 photograph)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Polyneums octonemus USNM 739 syntypes radiograph lateral view) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Trichiodon octofilis USNM 15074 holotype radiograph lateral view) (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To ITIS
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (26 publications) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (43 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (9 publications) (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Polydactylus octonemus)
To FishBase
To FishBase (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To FishBase (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To GenBank (34 nucleotides; 31 proteins) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To GenBank (34 nucleotides; 31 proteins)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Polydactylus octonemus USNM 396306 photograph)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Polyneums octonemus USNM 739 syntypes radiograph lateral view) (from synonym Polynemus octonemus Girard, 1858)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Trichiodon octofilis USNM 15074 holotype radiograph lateral view) (from synonym Trichidion octofilis Gill, 1861)
To ITIS