genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
ray-finned fishes
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
,
hawkfish
Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs.
Taxonomy
The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturalis ...
es belonging to the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Cirrhitidae
Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs.
Taxonomy
The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturalis ...
. These fishes are found on
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...
s worldwide.
Taxonomy
''Amblycirrhitus'' was originally described as a genus in 1862 by the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...
Theodore Nicholas Gill
Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian.
Career
Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural history ...
with the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
designated as ''Cirrhites fasciatus'', which is a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of ''Amblycirrhitus pinos'', as this name for a taxon described in 1829 by Cuvier’s was
preoccupied
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...
. The genus name is a compound of ''ambly'' which means “blunt” which Gill did not explain but which may be an allusion to the “abbreviated” head of the type species or possibly of its “slightly convex” snout, and ''
Cirrhitus
''Cirrhitus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes from the family Cirrhitidae. The species in this genus are found on tropical reefs worldwide.
Taxonomy
''Cirrhites'' was first formally described as a genus in 1803 by the French ...
Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...
''Amblycirrhitus'' hawkfishes have moderately compressed oval-shaped bodies with a short, sharp snout over a moderately large mouth. The jaws have an outer row of small canine-like teeth and an inner band of simple teeth and there are teeth on the palatine. They have the uppermost 1 or 2 and the lowest 5 (occasionally 6)
pectoral fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...
rays without branches, these are shorter than the upper unbranched rays. The pectoral fins are reasonably long, at least extending as far as the
anus
The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, d ...
and often as far as the
anal fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...
. They have 11-12 soft rays in the
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...
, each dorsal fin spine has a tuft of
cirri
Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian cellist and composer in the 18th century.
Biography
Cirri was born in Forlì in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother ...
on the membrane close to the spine and each dorsal fin membrane is deeply notched, with the deepest between the fourth and fifth spine. The
preoperculum
This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes.
A
B
C
...
has serrations on its upper margin. These fish have bodies which have a depth which is roughly a quarter to a third of the
standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...
. These fish vary in
total length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...
between
Distribution and habitat
''Amblycirrhitus'' hawkfishes are found in the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. They are found on hard substrates such as coral and rocky reefs and rocky seabeds.