''Dendrochirus barberi'', the Hawaiian lionfish or green lionfish, 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 hor ...

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 ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

, the scorpionfishes and lionfishes. It occurs in the Eastern Central

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade.

Taxonomy

''Dendrochirus barberi'' Was first formally described in 1900 as ''Pterois barberi'' by the Austrian

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 ...

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

with the type locality given as between

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

, although it was actually near the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. This species is part of the ''brachypterus''

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

within the

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 ...

Dendrochirus ''Dendrochirus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. They are mostly known as turkeyfishes or pygmy lionfishes. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are also popular ...

''. The specific name honours Captain Barber who caught the holotype among

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

on the voyage from Honolulu to Cape Horn in 1896-97, Steindachner gave no further information about Captain Barber.

Description

''Dendrochirus barberi'' has 13 spines and 9 soft rays in its

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 ...

and 3 spines and 5 soft rays in its

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 ...

, the spines in the dorsal fin are more than half the depth of the body, separated by deeply notched membranes. It has a large

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 ...

in which the upper rays are branched towards their tips. There are coronal spines and large specimens may have some branches on the spines on the head. The suborbital ridge has a single row of spines and not a wide patch of minute spinules. The supraocular tentacle may be present and is short, with a length less than the diameter of the orbit and is typically absent. The overall color of the head and body is orange-brown with many scattered, small white spots, whitish on the lower body. There are three poorly marked wide brownish bands on the head, the front band is below the eye. the middle band runs diagonally across the eye from the base of the supraocular spine to the interopercle and the rear band saddles the nape at the base pof the parietal spine. There are six indistinct brownish vertical bands on flanks, the 5 forward bands are underneath the dorsal fin base, and extend onto the fin membrane. The 2 bands over the anal fin extend onto its fin membrane and the rearmost band is on the

caudal peduncle 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 ...

. All of these bands fade as the fish grows. The color of the eyes is orange-red with a black iris. The spiny part of the dorsal fin is whitish, with 2–4 irregular orange-brown bands on each spine and the soft-rayed part is semi-translucent marked with many small dark spots on the fin rays. The pectoral fin is also whitish marked with around 8 indistinct irregular brown bands and brownish mottles on its rear half. The pelvic fin is grayish-white marked with a few vague brown bands. The spiny part of the anal fin is also grayish-white and the soft-rayed part is semi-translucent like the soft rayed part of the dorsal fin and also has many small dark spots on each ray. The

caudal 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 ...

is white and there are numerous small dark spots on its rays. This species attains a maximum

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 ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

''Dendrochirus barberi'' is found in the eastern central Pacific where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Hawaiian Islands and

Johnston Atoll Johnston Atoll is an Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated territory of the United States, currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Johnston Atoll is a National Wildlife Refuge and ...

. It lives in waters of less than depth, on coral or in rocky crevices, in clear seaward reefs or in turbid lagoons.

Biology

''Dendrochirus berberi'' spends the day hiding in crevices and caves but appears to become

benthopelagic The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

during the night hours. It feeds on small fishes and crustaceans.

Utilisation

''Dendrochirus barberi'' is infrequent in 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, specimens traded are wild caught. The impact of catching these fishes to sell in the aquarium trade is not understood.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3754882 barberi Endemic fauna of Hawaii Fish of Hawaii Fish described in 1900 Taxa named by Franz Steindachner