The dusky morwong was first formally
described in 1850 as
Cheilodactylus nigricans by the
Scottish naval surgeon,
arctic explorer and
naturalist Sir John Richardson with the
type locality given as
King George Sound in
Western Australia. In 1883 the
English zoologist Charles De Vis created the genus
Dactylophora with this species the type species by monotypy, it is still the only species in the genus. The genus name is a compound of
dactylus meaning "finger" and
phora which means "to bear" or "carry", a reference to the single elongated, unbranched pectoral fin ray. The
specific namenigricans means "blackish", as the species description was based on a drawing which showed a dark greyish-black colour on the back, head and fins.
Genetic and
morphological analyses strongly suggest that
Dactylophora should be placed in the family
Latridae, along with almost all of the other species formerly classified in the Cheilodactylidae. Only two Southern African species,
Cheilodactylus fasciatus and
C. pixi would remain in Cheilodactylidae. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World, however, retains
Dactylophora within the family Cheiloactylidae. ==Description==