Acanthurinae

Acanthurinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Acanthuridae, found in the Indo-Pacific and the tropical Atlantic. These fishes commonly have the English names surgeonfishes or tangs.

Acanthurinae
Acanthurus sohal
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Acanthuridae
Subfamily: Acanthurinae
Bonaparte, 1835[1]
Tribes and Genera

see text

Acanthurus lineatus
Acanthurus tennenti
Acanthurus coeruleus
Ctenochaetus tominiensis
Paracanthurus hepatus
Zebrasoma veliferum

Taxonomy

Acanthurinae is the nominate subfamily of the family Acanthuridae which was proposed by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1835.[1] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World recognises 3 tribes within the subfamily, the Acanthurini, Prionurini and Zebrasomoni. The other subfamily in the Acanthuridae is the monogeneric Nasinae.[2]

Tribes and genera

Acanthurinae is subdivided into the following tribes and genera:[2]

FishBase list 57 species in the subfamily, with Acanthurus containing 40 species being the most speciose genus.[3]

Characteristics

Acanthurini surgeonfishes are characterised by having 3 spines in the anal fin. They also have one or more mobile and flexible spine on the caudal peduncle, this spine is not mobile in Prionurus, that may be extended as a defensive weapon. In the tribe Acanthurini this spine is held in a deep slit. They have 5 branchiostegals and they have spatulate teeth in the jaws.[2] The smallest species is the bluebarred surgeonfish (Acanthurus polyzona) with a maximum published total length of 11 cm (4.3 in) while the largest species, Fowler's surgeonfish (A. folweri) and the powderblue surgeonfish (A. leucosternon), both have maximum published total lengths of 54 cm (21 in).[3]

Distribution

Acanthurinae are mainly found in the Indo-Pacific region but five species in the genus Acanthurus extend into the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean but they are absent from the Mediterranean.[3]

References
  1. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  2. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  3. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2023). "Acanthurinae" in FishBase. June 2023 version.

Bibliography
  • Joseph S. Nelson: Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
  • André Luty: Doktorfische - Lebensweise - Pflege - Arten. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen 1999, ISBN 3-921684-61-7
  • Andreas Vilcinskas: Meerestiere der Tropen, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-07943-0
  • Helmut Debelius und Rudie H. Kuiter: Doktorfische und ihre Verwandten. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3669-4
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