Emmelichthyidae

Emmelichthyidae is a small family of small to medium-sized marine ray-finned fishes known commonly as rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes.

Emmelichthyidae
Rubyfish (Plagiogeneion rubiginosum)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Suborder: Sciaenoidei
Family: Emmelichthyidae
Poey, 1867[1]
Genera

see text

Taxonomy

Emmelichthyidae was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1867 by the Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey.[1] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the family in the suborder Sciaenoidei, alongside the drum family Sciaenidae, in the order Acanthuriformes.[2] Other authorities classify the Emmelichthyidae and the Sciaenidae as incertae sedis within the series Eupercaria.[3] The Catalog of Fishes retains this family within the Acanthuriformes but does not recognise the suborder Sciaenoidei.[4] The family was formerly regarded as being much larger, including a wide range of plankton-eating fish, but most of the genera prevuioulsy included were discovered to be unrelated examples of parallel evolution, and were moved to other families.[5][6]

Genera

The family Emmelichthyidae contains the following three genera:[7][8]

Characteristics

Emmelichthyidae are streamlined fishes with much of their heads and bodies covered in small ctenoid scales which also extend on the base of both the dorsal and anal fin. They have distensible jaws and large mouths with the maxillae widely expanded and clearly scaled. The lower jaw protrudes slightly and the teeth highly reduced or there are none at all. The rear margin of the operculum has a pair of flat spines. The dorsal fin is long and may be divided into 2 fins with the anal fin being similar and opposite the soft-rayed portion of the dorsal fin. The caudal fin has a deep fork.[9] Typically thee fish do njot exceed 50 cm (20 in) in length.[2]

Distribution

Emmelichthyidae is distributed in tropical and warmer temperate waters in the Indo-Pacific, southern Pacific, eastern Atlantic, and Caribbean Sea.[10]

See also

References
  1. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. 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. Ricardo Betancur-R; Edward O. Wiley; Gloria Arratia; et al. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17 (162). doi:10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3.
  4. "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. Johnson, G.D.; Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 184. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  6. Heemstra, PC; Randall, JE (1977). "A revision of the Emmelichthyidae (Pisces : Perciformes)". Marine and Freshwater Research. 28 (3): 361. doi:10.1071/MF9770361. ISSN 1323-1650.
  7. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2023). "Emmelichthyidae" in FishBase. February 2023 version.
  8. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Emmelichthyidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  9. Martin F. Gomon. "Bonnetmouths, EMMELICHTHYIDAE". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  10. WoRMS (2014). Emmelichthyidae. In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors. FishBase. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species.
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