''Scolopsis vosmeri'', also known as Vosmaer's monocle bream, white-banded monocle bream, whitecheek monoclebream and whiteband spinecheek, 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 species occurs in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' was first formally described as ''Anthias vosmeri'' by the German physician and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch with its type locality given as ''Japanisches Meer'', taken to mean Nagasaki in Japan but this is regarded as erroneous and the correct type locality is probably Tranquebar in India. ''S. vosmeri'' was split into 3 species in 2022, revalidating the parapatric '' S. curite'' and '' S. japonica'' as valid species, separate from ''S. vosmeri''. 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.

Etymology

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' has an honorific

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

but Bloch did not explain who was being honoured but it is thought most likely to be Arnout Vosmaer, the Dutch naturalist who was curator of the natural history collection started by Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.

Description

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' has its dorsal fin supported by 10 spines and 7 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 ...

contains 3 spines and 7 soft rays. It has a body which has a

standard 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 m ...

that is twice, or slightly more than twice, its depth with a snot that is a little shorter than the diameter of the eye. The scales on the head extend beyond the eyes but not as far as the rear pair of nostrils. The lower limb 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 scaled and there is a forward pointing spine underneath the eye. It has moderately long

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s which reach as far as, or almost as far as, the level of the anus. The background colour is reddish brown with a whitish caudal peduncle, the scales on the flanks have dark spots. There is a wide white, vertical bar running from the crown onto the operculum. The dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins are dark reddish and there is no black spot on the upper base of the base of the pectoral fin. There is normally a white longitudinal band running below 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 ...

starting on the upper operculum to underneath the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin. In some fish this is absent and observations have seen that the fish can actively make this band flash as they swim, probably as an intraspecific signal. This species has a maximum published total length of although

is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' is found in the Indian Ocean from the Arabian Sea and Sri Lanka east into the Western Pacific Ocean as far as East Malaysia and Brunei. This is a benthic fish found in inshore waters in weedy areas, normally on sand or mud turbid waters or weedy areas, usually on sand or mud substrates in the vicinity of reefs, typically in turbid waters, down to about .

Biology

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' is typically encountered as solitary individual but this species will school in deeper waters. It feeds on benthic animals.

Fisheries

''Scolopsis vosmeri'' is caught in trawl fisheries, hand lines and fish traps, as well as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

. The catch is sold fresh, preserved by

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

or salting, or as fish balls.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3643213 vosmeri Fish described in 1792 Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch