''Scolopsis curite'', the whitecheek monocle bream, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family

Nemipteridae Nemipteridae are a family of fishes within the order Perciformes. They are known as threadfin breams, whiptail breams and false snappers. They are found in tropical waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Most species are benthic carni ...

, the threadfin breams. This fish is found in the Indian Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Scolopsis curite'' was first formally described in 1815 by the French zoologist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

following a figure drawn by Patrick Russell of a fish given the name ''Kurite'' in Visakhapatnam, India. This taxon was regarded as a synonyms of '' S. vosmeri'' but ''S. vosmerii'' has been shown to be a species complex of three species in 2022. ''S. curite'' in the Indian Ocean, ''S. vosmeri'' in the northern Indian Ocean and Indonesia and '' S. japonica'' in the Western Pacific Ocean. ''S. curite'' and ''S. japonica'' are closely related sister species which replace each other geographically. The type species of the genus '' Scolopsis'' is ''Scolopsis sayanus'' but this is a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of the pirate perch (''Aphredoderus sayanus'') which is not a member of, or closely related to, the genus ''Scolopsis''. As ''S. curite'' is now considered to be a valid species it should be designated the type species of the genus Scolopsis. In 2022 a neotype was designated for this species and its

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

is Puducherry in Tamil Nadu. 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 ...

'' classifies the genus ''Scolopsis'' within the family Nemipteridae which it places in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Spariformes.

Description

''Scolopsis curite'' is very similar to ''S. vosmeri'' but it has a wedge shape black spot on the upper pectoral fin base, has no white band underneath the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

and in having greenish yellow, rather than black spots on the bases of the scales on the body. The colour of the pelvic and

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 ...

s also differing being yellow rather than reddish brown, the caudal peduncle being yellowish rather than white and the caudal fin being yellow rather than greyish. ''S. curite'' is not easy to tell apart from ''S. japonica'' as they have very similar colours and patterns, however, in ''S. japonica'' the margin of the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

is serrated or has a spiny edge while the preoperculum of ''S. curite'' is more robust and rough with a bony margin which has one or two rows of short blunt spines along its whole length.

Distribution and habitat

''Scolopsis curite'' is only found in the Indian Ocean where it occurs along the eastern coast of Africa from KwaZulu Natal and Madagascar north to the Red Sea, although absent from the far northern Red Sea, it occurs in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea east to the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

. It is found in turbid waters at depths between over areas of seabed made up of sand and mud close to reefs, or in clear sandy area. Typically found in pairs or singly.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q123560871 curite Fish described in 1815 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier