''Antigonia rubescens'', the Indo-Pacific boarfish or sharpsnout deepsea boarfish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish 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 ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Caproidae Caproidae, or boarfishes, are a small family of marine fishes comprising two genera and 12 species. They were formerly placed in the order Zeiformes with the dories, but are now placed with the Perciformes since they have many perciform charac ...

, the boarfishes. This fish is found in the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Taxonomy

''Antigonia rubescens'' was first formally described as ''Hypsinotus rubescens'' in 1860 by the German-born British

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

and ichthyologist

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

with its type locality given as

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

. The 5th edition of '' Fishes of the World'' classifies the genus ''Antigonia'' in the Antigoniinae, a subfamily of the Caproidae, within the order Caproiformes, as do other authorities. However, other authorities classify this taxon as a family, the Antigoniidae, and classify and the Caproidae in the order Acanthuriformes.

Etymology

''Antigonia rubescens'' has the genus name, ''Antigonia'', and this was not explained by Lowe but it is probably a combination of ''anti'', meaning "against", and ''goneos'', which means "ancestor". This may be reference to how ''A. capros'' is so distinctive yet seems to elucidate the ancestry of relayed forms which Lowe felt were randomly classified before he described ''A. capros''. The specific name, ''rubescens'', means "reddish", Günther did not explain this but it is obviouslt a reference to the redish orange colour of this fish .

Description

''Antigonia rubescens'' has 9 spines and between 27 and 30 soft rays supporting 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 c ...

and 3 spines and between 24 and 28 soft rays supporting the anal fin. They have a highly compressed, deep rhomboid shaped body, typical of the genus ''Antigomia''. The overall colour of the body is reddish orange. This species has a maximum published standard length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Antigonia rubescens'' is found in the Indo-West Pacific from Japan to Australia. It is a

benthopelagic fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They o ...

found at depths between .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2236696 Caproidae Fish described in 1843 Taxa named by Albert Günther