''Genicanthus takeuchii'', the spotted angelfish or Takeuchi’s angelfish, 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 ...

, a

marine angelfish Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confu ...

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 ...

Pomacanthidae Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confu ...

. It is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Description

''Genicanthus takeuchii'', like the other angelfishes in 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 ...

Genicanthus ''Genicanthus'' is a genus of marine angelfishes in the family (biology), family Pomacanthidae. Known commonly as swallowtail or lyretail angelfish, these fishes are so-named for the distinctive shape of their tailfins. This genus of angels, in ...

'', shows

sexual dichromatism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, the males and females show differences in colour and pattern. The male is greyish white on the upper body with six to eight horizontal stripes, while the lower body is pale white. 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 ...

and 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 ...

are both marked with large black spots. Females have an overall colour of greyish white with a dense pattern of black spots on the upper body and caudal fin. The juveniles have a honeycomb pattern on the upper body. The dorsal fin contains 15 spines and 16 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17-18 soft 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

''Genicanthus takeuchii'' is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is restricted to

Marcus Island , also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight line ...

and the

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

to the southeast of Japan. They have also been found in the

Marianas Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

Habitat and biology

''Genicanthus takeuchii'' is a little known species of deep coral reefs at depths between .

Systematics

''Genicanthus takeuchii'' was first formally described in 1997 as ''Holocanthus semifasciatus'' 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 ...

Richard L. Pyle with the type locality given as Ani-jima, Mansakunohama in the Ogasawara Islands of Japan. The specific name honours the discoverer of this species, the Japanese diver Hiroshi Takeuchi. This species is known to hybridise with the Japanese swallow ('' Genicanthus semifasciatus'').

Utilisation

''Genicanthus takeuchii'' does not appear 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2615014 takeuchii Fish described in 1997