Chilomycterus

Chilomycterus is a genus of diodontid tetraodontiform fishes commonly called "burrfish."

Burrfishes Temporal range: Early Miocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Chilomycterus schoepfii
Chilomycterus antillarum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Tetraodontiformes
Family:	Diodontidae
Genus:	Chilomycterus Brisout de Barneville, 1846
Type species
Diodon atringa Brisout de Barneville, 1846
Synonyms
Atinga Le Danois, 1954 Chilomyctere Bibron, 1855 Cyanichthys Kaup, 1855 Lyosphaera Evermann & Kendall, 1898 (uncertainly a synonym of this genus)

Distribution

A majority of Chilomycterus species are found in the Atlantic Ocean, and primarily in the western Atlantic. Only one species, C. reticulatus, is also found in the Indo-Pacific region. The western Atlantic appears to have always been a region of diversity for the genus, as a majority of fossil species have been found there. Only a single indeterminate fossil assigned to this genus is known from the Pacific coast of Panama.^[1]

Species

There are currently 5 recognized species in this genus:^[2]

• Chilomycterus antennatus (G. Cuvier, 1816) (bridled burrfish)
• Chilomycterus antillarum D. S. Jordan & Rutter, 1897 (web burrfish)
• Chilomycterus mauretanicus (Y. Le Danois, 1954) (Guinean burrfish)^[3]
• Chilomycterus reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (spotfin burrfish)
• Chilomycterus schoepfii (Walbaum, 1792) (striped burrfish)
• Chilomycterus spinosus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fossil species

The following fossil species are known:^[1]

• †Chilomycterus circunflexus (Leriche, 1942) (Late Miocene of Cuba & Florida, US)
• †Chilomycterus dzonotensis Cantalice et al., 2025 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Mexico)^[4]
• †Chilomycterus exspectatus Aguilera et al, 2017 (Late Miocene of Panama)^[1]
• †Chilomycterus ferreirai (Santos & Travassos 1960) (Early Miocene of Brazil & Venezuela)
• †Chilomycterus gatunensis (Toula, 1909) (Late Miocene of Panama)
• †Chilomycterus kugleri (Casier, 1958) (Late Miocene of Trinidad)
• †Chilomycterus tyleri Aguilera et al, 2017 (Late Miocene of Panama)^[1]
• †Chilomycterus vetus (Leidy, 1877) (Middle Miocene of Trinidad, Late Miocene of Florida, US)

The former species C. acanthodes from the Miocene of Italy is now placed in Oligodiodon.^[5][6]