title: Melanostigma
text: # Melanostigma
  
  Melanostigma is a cosmopolitan genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. The fishes in this genus are found all round the world.
  
  ## Species
  
  The following species are classified within the genus Melanostigma:
  
  * Melanostigma atlanticum Koefoed, 1952
  * Melanostigma bathium Bussing, 1965
  * Melanostigma bellingshauseni Orlovskaya & Balushkin, 2020
  * Melanostigma gelatinosum Günther, 1881
  * Melanostigma inexpectatum Parin, 1977
  * Melanostigma kharini Balushkin & Moganova, 2018
  * Melanostigma orientale Tominaga, 1971
  * Melanostigma pammelas Gilbert, 1896
  * Melanostigma vitiazi Parin, 1980
  
  In addition Catalog of Fishes recognises the following additional species which are not recognised as valid species in FishBase.
  
  * Melanostigma flaccidum Waite, 1914
  * Melanostigma japonicum Balushkin, 2019
  * Melanostigma lazarevi Orlovskaya & Balushkin, 2020
  * Melanostigma meteori Balushkin & Orlovskaya, 2019
  * Melanostigma olgae Balushkin & Moganova, 2017
  * Melanostigma thalassium Orlovskaya & Balushkin 2019
  