The Scorpidinae, commonly known as halfmoons, knifefishes, and sweeps, are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of 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 ...

Kyphosidae The sea chubs, also known as rudderfish and pilot fish and in Hawaiian as ''enenue'' or ''nenue'', are a family, Kyphosidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans usually close to shore in marine w ...

, the sea chubs, a family of

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the order

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

. The Scorpidinae are distributed throughout the

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 ...

and east

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

s, with species occurring in the waters of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and numerous islands. Most inhabit the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

in shallow rock and kelp

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s and deeper offshore reefs, whilst others are found well offshore in a

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 ...

setting. Most of the Scorpidinae are

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

, taking a variety of small

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, although some are partly

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

. A number of the larger species are fished

commercially Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

and recreationally, and are considered good

table fish Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients throughout human history. The English language does not have ...

Classification

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.

lists 12 species in 5 genera under the subfamily Scorpidinae, the genera are set out below * ''

Bathystethus ''Bathystethus'' is a genus of sea chubs native to the Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Bathystethus cultratus'' (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Grey knifefish) * '' Bathystethus orientale'' ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1893 * ''

Labracoglossa ''Labracoglossa'' is a genus of sea chubs native to the western Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Labracoglossa argenteiventris'' W. K. H. Peters, 1866 * '' Labracoglossa nitida'' McCulloch M ...

Peters Peters may refer to: People * Peters (surname) * Peters Band, a First Nations band in British Columbia, Canada Places United States * Peters, California, a census-designated place * Peters, Florida, a town * Peters Township, Kingman County, Kan ...

, 1866 * ''

Medialuna A medialuna (literally ''half moon'') is crescent-shaped corral used for rodeos, the official sport in Chile. They are generally in diameter. Chilean rodeos are not quite the same sport famous in the American West; they involve two riders on hor ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

& Fesler, 1893 * ''

Neoscorpis The stone bream (''Neoscorpis lithophilus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea chub from the family Kyphosidae, which is native to the Indian Ocean coast of Africa where it can be found along rocky coasts from Mozambique to South Afri ...

J.L.B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long e ...

, 1931 * ''

Scorpis ''Scorpis'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish from the subfamily Scorpidinae of the sea chub family Kyphosidae which are native to the eastern Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: ...

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 ...

, 1832 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 ...

'' includes ''Neoscorpis'' within the subfamily Scorpidinae but other authorities place it within the

Kyphosinae ''Kyphosus'' is a genus of sea chubs native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the only genus in the subfamily Kyphosinae of the family Kyphosidae. Species There are currently 16 recognized species in this genus: * ''Kyphosus ana ...

, although these authorities usually classify the subfamilies of the Kyphosidae as families.

References

Kyphosidae Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Perciformes-stub