Scarus

Scarus is a genus of parrotfishes. With 52 currently recognised extant species,[3] it is by far the largest genus in this family. The vast majority are found at reefs in the Indo-Pacific, but a small number of species are found in the warmer parts of the eastern Pacific and the western Atlantic, with a single species, Scarus hoefleri in the eastern Atlantic. Most are very colourful, and have strikingly different initial (males and females) and terminal (males only) phases. Adults of most species reach maximum lengths of between 30 and 50 cm (12–20 in), but the rainbow parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia) can grow to lengths of 1.2 m (3.9 ft).[3]

Scarus
Temporal range: Early Oligocene to Present[1]
Scarus ferrugineus, terminal phase
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Scaridae
Genus: Scarus
Forsskål, 1775
Type species
Scarus psittacus
Forsskål (not of Linnaeus), 1775
Species

about 52, see text

Synonyms[2]
  • Calliodon Bloch & Schneider, 1801
  • Callyodon Scopoli, 1777
  • Erychthys Swainson, 1839
  • Hemistoma Swainson, 1839
  • Loro Jordan & Evermann, 1896
  • Margaritodon J.L.B. Smith, 1956
  • Petronason Swainson, 1839
  • Pseudoscarus Bleeker, 1861
  • Scarops Schultz, 1958
  • Scarus Bleeker, 1847
  • Xenoscarops Schultz, 1958

Species

There are currently 52 recognised species in this genus:[3]

In political thought

In Cesare Ripa's Renaissance iconography, the scarus fish symbolised civil "Union," i.e. the joining together of individuals into a collective body. Plutarch had written that scarus fish "swim together in shoals and ingeniously and heroically free each other when caught in a net." The scarus thus "denoted reciprocal assistance in the fight for survival."[4]

References
  1. Sepkoski, J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Scaridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  3. Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. Scarus. FishBase. 2013.
  4. Hont, I. Jealousy of Trade: International Competition and the Nation-State in Historical Perspective. Harvard UP: 2005, pp. 21-22.
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