a genus of marine fishes of the order Perciformes. The elongated body is up to 40 cm long and is laterally compressed. The first dorsal fin bears thorny spines, and each gill cover has a spine. At the base of the spines are poison glands. The sting of the thorns is very painful and has caused human fatalities. The genus has four or five species. The roe are pelagic. Trachinus feed on small fishes and crustaceans; they lie in wait for their prey. They are distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. One species, Trachinus draco, is found in the USSR, in the Black Sea. Fishes of the genus Trachinus are fished locally.