Genus Taeniamia

A recently described genus with 15 species previously placed in the genus Archamia. Species have two broadly different colour patterns: 1) yellow, orange, red or dark bars with or without a dark basicaudal spot, and 2) yellow or dark midline stripe with another stripe above the lateral line, lacking bars (Fraser 2013).

Diagnosis. Hypurals 1–4 free; a slender pair of uroneurals; urostylar sheath over hypurals 3 and 4; ribs without wide flanges; soft anal-rays 11–19; basicaudal dark spot variable in size and intensity; body translucent or semi-translucent in life, with stripes or bars on head and/or body. (Fraser 2013)

Taeniamia is from the Latin taenia meaning 'ribbon' or 'band' and the Greek Amia meaning a 'fish', often used with cardinalfishes genera, in reference to the vertical wide bars and near vertical to curved narrow bars as lines on most species in this genus.