Anthias are members of the family

Serranidae The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some ca ...

and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

photography and film. The name Anthiidae is preoccupied by a subfamily of ground beetles in the family Carabidae created by Bonelli in 1813 and this grouping should be called the Anthiadinae. However, both the 5th Edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' and

Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

give the Serranid subfamily as "Anthiinae". Anthias are mostly small, thus are quite popular within the ornamental fish trade. They form complex social structures based on the number of males and females and also their position on the reef itself, and are mainly

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

feeders. They occur in all

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 ...

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

s and

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

s of the world. The first species recognized in this group was described in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

and northeast

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and was given name ''Anthias anthias'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologi ...

. Anthias can

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

by the thousands. Anthias do school in these large groups, though they tend toward more intimate subdivisions within the school, appropriately called "harems". These consist of one dominant, colorful male, and two to 12 females — which have their own hierarchy among them — and up to two 'subdominant' males, often less brightly colored and not territorial. Within the swarm of females, territorial males perform acrobatic U-swim displays and vigorously defend an area of the reef and its associated harem. Most anthias are protogynous

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...

s. These anthias are born female; if a dominant male perishes, the largest female of the group will often change into a male to take its place. This may lead to squabbling between the next-largest male, which sees an opportunity to advance, and the largest female, whose hormones are surging with testosterone. Seven genera of anthias are known to occur in coral reef ecosystems: '' Holanthias'', '' Luzonichthys'', '' Nemanthias'', '' Plectranthias'', '' Pseudanthias'', '' Rabaulichthys'', and '' Serranocirrhitus''. Members of all these genera make it into the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade, although ''Pseudanthias'' is by far the most encountered in the hobby.

Genera

The following genera are classified within the Anthiinae: * ''

Acanthistius ''Acanthistius'' is a genus of fish. Some authors place the genus in the family Serranidae, while some consider it to be ''incertae sedis'', where it is not clear which family it belongs to.Mansur, L. E. (2011)First record of partial albinism in ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

, 1862 * '' Anatolanthias'' Anderson, Parin &

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, 1990 * '' Anthias''

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur * Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journa ...

, 1792 * ''

Baldwinella ''Baldwinella'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish from the grouper and sea bass family Serranidae. It was created in 2012 and the name honours Carole C. Baldwin of the Division of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History, recognised he ...

'' Anderson & Heemstra, 2012 * '' Caesioperca'' Castelnau, 1872 * '' Caprodon''

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminc ...

& Schlegel, 1843 * '' Choranthias'' Anderson & Heemstra, 2012 * '' Dactylanthias'' Bleeker, 1871 * '' Epinephelides'' Ogilby, 1899 * ''

Giganthias ''Giganthias'' is a small genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Anthiinae subfamily, which is part of the family Serranidae. the groupers and sea basses. It contains two species from Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Taxonomy ''Giganthias ...

'' Katayama, 1954 * '' Hemanthias''

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...

, 1875 * '' Holanthias'' Günther 1868 * ''

Hypoplectrodes ''Hypoplectrodes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Anthiinae subfamily, part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. It contains eight species; six of which are endemic to Australia, with one species en ...

'' Gill, 1862 * '' Lepidoperca''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1914 * '' Luzonichthys'' Herre, 1936 * '' Meganthias'' Randall & Heemstra, 2006 * '' Nemanthias'' J.L.B. Smith, 1954 * '' Odontanthias'' Bleeker, 1873 * '' Othos'' Castelnau, 1875 * '' Plectranthias'' Bleeker, 1873 * ''

Pronotogrammus ''Pronotogrammus'' is a genus of colourful marine ray-finned fishes in the subfamily Anthiinae, which is part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found at reefs at depths of in the tropical and subtropical East Pacifi ...

'' Gill, 1863 * '' Pseudanthias'' Bleeker, 1871 * '' Rabaulichthys''

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

, 1984 * '' Sacura''

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Capi ...

, 1910 * '' Selenanthias'' Tanaka, 1918 * '' Serranocirrhitus'' Watanabe, 1949 * '' Tosana'' H.M. Smith &

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, 1906 * ''

Tosanoides ''Tosanoides'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish in the subfamily Anthiinae which is part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently six recognized spec ...

'' Kamohara, 1953 * '' Trachypoma'' Günther, 1859

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2011837 Serranidae Fish subfamilies