Prionurus

Prionurus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs, although some of the species in this genus are called sawtails or doctorfish. The species in this genus are found in the Pacific Ocean with one species, P. biafraensis, found in the Atlantic Ocean.

Prionurus
Prionurus laticlavius (razor surgeonfish)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Acanthuridae
Subfamily: Acanthurinae
Tribe: Prionurini
J. L. B. Smith, 1966
Genus: Prionurus
Lacépède, 1804
Type species
Prionurus microlepidotus
Lacépède, 1804[1]
Species

7, see text

Synonyms[1]

Taxonomy

Prionurus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1804 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède when he described Prionurus microlepidotus.[1] Lacépède did not give a type locality but the type was collected by François Péron off New South Wales.[2] The genus Prionurus is the only genus in the tribe Prionurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamiles in the family Acanthuridae.[3]

Etymology

Prionurus means "sawtail" a reference to the 3 to 7 immobile keeled bony plates on each side of the caudal peduncle.[4]

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[5]

Characteristics

Prionurus species have oval, compressed bodies with a steep angle on the head above the snout. The small mouth is protrusible and is positioned low on the head. The teeth are set closely together and are moderately large, flattened and have serrated edges. They have 8 or 9 spines in the dorsal fin and 3 spines in the anal fin. The caudal peduncle has between 3 and 7 bony plates with sharp keels on each side.[6] The spined keels in the caudal peduncle are immobile in this genus compared to mobile ones in other surgeonfishes.[3] These fishes vary in their maximum published total lengths from 20 cm (7.9 in) in P. biafraensis to 70 cm (28 in) in P. microlepidotus.[5]

Distribution

Prionurus have a predominantly Pacific range with six of the seven species being found in the Pacific Ocean,[5] two of these, P. laticlavus and P. punctatus being endemic to the eastern Pacific[6] and one, P. biafraensis, being endemic to the Eastern Atlantic.[5]

References
  1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Acanthuridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Prionurus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. 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.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2023). Species of Prionurus in FishBase. June 2023 version.
  6. "Genus: Prionurus, Surgeonfishes, Sawtails". Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
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