Etelis

Etelis is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lutjanidae, the snappers. They are mostly native to the Indian and Pacific oceans with one species (E. oculatus) native to the western Atlantic Ocean.[3]

Etelis
Etelis carbunculus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Lutjanidae
Subfamily: Etelinae
Genus: Etelis
G. Cuvier, 1828[1]
Type species
Etelis carbunculus
G. Cuvier, 1828[1]
Synonyms[2]

Taxonomy

Etelis was named by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier in 1830 with Etelis carbunculus as its only species and, therefore, its type species.[2] The name of the genus was taken from Aristotle by Cuvier, who said that Aristotle had used it for a fish he did not give a description for.[4]

The currently recognized species in this genus are:[3]

Characteristics

Etelis snappers are medium sized Lutjanids with slender, fusiform bodies. The jaws are equipped with small, conical teeth, the outer row being the largest and they have 1 or 2 pairs of enlarged canines at their front. The vomerine teeth are placed in a v-shaped or a crescent shaped patch. The space between the eyes is flattened.They have a continuous dorsal fin but there is a notch at the junction of the spiny part of the fin, this fin has 10 spines and 10 to 11 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. Both the dorsal and anal fins lack scales and the last ray in each fin is elongated.compared to the neighbouring ray The pectoral fins are long, just shorter than the head and contain 15 to 17 rays. The caudal fins are forked. These snappers are coloured in a variety of red or pink shades changing to silvery or whitish on lower flanks and abdomen.[6]

Distribution

Etelis species are found mainly in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, with one species the queen snapper (E. oculatus) being found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean.[6]

Habitat and biology

Etelis snappers are found at moderate depths, between 90 and 450 m (300 and 1,480 ft), over rock substrates. They may be solitary or found in small groups. Their diet includes fishes, squid and crustaceans.[6]

Fisheries

Etelis species are important in many areas as food fish, especially among the archipelagos of the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. These fish are fished for mainly using bottom longlines and deep handlines. They are considered to be good quality food fish and the catch is mainly sold fresh.[6]

References
  1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lutjanidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lutjanidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). Species of Etelis in FishBase. December 2013 version.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (5 January 2021). "Order LUTJANIFORMES: Families HAEMULIDAE and LUTJANIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. Andrews, Kimberly R.; Fernandez-Silva, Iria; Randall, John E.; Ho, Hsuan-Ching (2021). "Etelis boweni sp. nov., a new cryptic deepwater eteline snapper from the Indo‐Pacific (Perciformes: Lutjanidae)". Journal of Fish Biology. Early View (2): 335–344. doi:10.1111/jfb.14720. PMID 33751562. S2CID 232323814. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  6. Gerald R. Allen (1985). FAO species catalogue Vol.6. Snappers of the world An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date (PDF). FAO Rome. pp. 23–24. ISBN 92-5-102321-2.
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