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 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 ...
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 an ...
,
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
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 ...
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
Pieter Bleeker in 1852 as a
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
genus with ''Pristipomoides typus'' as its only species, this species therefore being 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 ...
of the genus. The generic name is a compound of ''Pristipoma'' with the suffix ''oides'' which means "like". At the time Bleeker coined the name he though ''P. typus'' was more closely related to and in the same family as the genus ''Pristipoma'', this taxon is now regarded as a synonym of the grunt genus ''
Pomadasys
''Pomadasys'' is a genus of grunts native to the waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and through the Indian Ocean to the Pacific coast of the Americas. The name of this genus is a compound of ''poma'' meaning "lid" or "covering" and ''dasys'' m ...
'' in the family
Haemulidae
Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...
.
There are two
subgenera
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
which are recognised by some authorities and 11 currently recognised species in this genus are:
* Subgenus ''Pristipomoides''
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Pristipomoides auricilla'' (D. S. Jordan, Evermann & . Tanaka, 1927) (goldflag jobfish)
** ''Pristipomoides filamentosus'' (Achille Valenciennes">Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
Goode
Goode ( or , depending on family) is a surname.
Notable people
Notable people with the surname include:
* Alex Goode (Born 1988), British rugby union player
* Alexander D. Goode (1911-1943), US Army chaplain
* Andy Goode (born 1980), British ru ...
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
Troschel Franz Hermann Troschel (10 October 1810 – 6 November 1882) was a German zoologist born in Spandau.
He studied mathematics and natural history at the University of Berlin, where he was awarded his doctorate in 1834.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; ...
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
, 1830) (oblique-banded snapper)
''P. amoenus'' is treated as a synonym of ''P. argyrogrammicus'' by
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.
''Pristipomoides'' snappers are small to medium-sized and have
fusiform
Fusiform means having a spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a structure that continues from one or both ends, such as an aneurysm on a b ...
, relatively slender and elongate bodies although they can also be robust. There is typically an outer row of enlarged, conical teeth and an inner band of bristle-like teeth with enlarged canines often placed on the front of the jaws. The vomerine teeth are arranged in a V-shaped or triangular patch, although one species '' Pristipomoides sieboldii'' shows a median extension to the rear of the main patch, this is also the only species which has teeth on its tongue. The space between the eyes is flattened. These snappers have a continuous
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 ...
which is not notched, this fin contains 10 spines and 10-11 soft rays while 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 ...
has 3 spines and 7-8 soft rays. The dorsal and anal fins are lacking in scales and the last ray of each of these fins is extended and is noticeably longer than the neighbouring rays. The
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 ...
s are long, equivalent in length to 2/3rds of the head length and contains 15-17 fin rays. 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 forked. The scales on the body are medium-sized to relatively small. The colour of these fishes is typically pink or rosy, occasionally they are purple, violet, or lavender on their back and upper flanks and frequently silver or whitish on lower flanks and abdomen.
Distribution
''Pristipomoides'' snappers are found in the warmer waters of the
Indo-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 and the western Atlantic Ocean.
Habitat and biology
''Pristipomoides'' snappers are found in relatively deep water, at depths between , typically over rocky substrates. They may live as solitary fish or aggregate in small shoals. Like other snappers, they are predatory fishes which prey on other smaller fishes,
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
,
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s and
pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
''Pristipomoides'' snappers are normally caught using bottom longlines and deep handlines but beam trawls may also be used. These fish are considered to have good quality flesh and they are largely sold fresh, although some of the catch may be preserved by freezing. They are important as food fish in some areas, especially in the western Pacific Ocean.