The streaked spinefoot (''Siganus javus''), also known as the Java rabbitfish, blue-spotted spinefoot, blue-spotted trevally, Java spinefoot or white-spotted rabbit-fish, 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 rabbitfish 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 ...

Siganidae Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, ''Siganus''. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces– ...

. It is found throughout most of the Indo-Pacific region.

Taxonomy

The streaked spinefoot was first formally described in 1766 as ''Teuthis javus'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

with the type locality given as being near

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

in Indonesia. The genus Linnaeus placed it in, ''Teuthis'', has the type species ''Teuthis hepatus'' for which one of the type specimens looks like this species, although the other is definitely not a rabbitfish, and the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

has been asked to suppress the name ''Teuthis'' in favour of '' Siganus'' to reflect the prevailing usage. The

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 ...

is a latinisation of Java, the type locality.

Description

The streaked spinefoot has a laterally compressed body which has a depth that is just under half its

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 ...

. The head is relatively small for a deep-bodied rabbitfish and has a slight indentation above the eyes. The front nostril has a small triangular flap which extends back half of the distance between the front and rear nostrils. There is a forward pointing spine in front of the dorsal fin which is imbedded in the nape. Like all rabbitfishes, 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 ...

has 13 spines and 10 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 7 spines and 9 soft rays. The caudal fin is emarginate. This species attains a maximum total length of , although is more typical. The overall colour is grey, fading to whitish on the lower body but the cheeks and lips are yellow. The are a large number of small white spots on the head and upper body, irregular sinuous stripes on the mid to lower flanks and a blackish area covering the majority of the caudal fin. The dorsal, anal, and

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 have golden coloured spines and rays while their membranes may be dusky or golden and 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 golden

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

Distribution and habitat

The streaked spinefoot is found from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

west to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, north to the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and south to northern Australia. In Australia it has been recorded from

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

to north of Townsville in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. There is a single record from the Mediterranean Sea, an individual was caught of Syria in 2009 but the origin of this specimen is not known. It can be found at depths between and in shallow coastal waters, in brackish lagoons and on rocky and coral reefs.

Biology

The streaked spinefoot occurs in small schools of as many as 10 individuals which feed on benthic algae and on pieces of alga floating in the water column. They often rest in midwater at depths between when they are not feeding.

Venom

The streaked spinefoot has grooves in the spines of the dorsal, anal and

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

fins which contain

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

glands. The wound caused by these spines may be relatively painful to humans, but is usually not dangerous. The spines are used in self-defence. In a study of the venom of a congener it was found that rabbitfish venom was similar to the venom of

stonefishes Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, ...

Utilisation

The streaked spinefoot is caught using seine nets,

gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s, and in fixed traps and the fish landed are sold as fresh fish. This species is used in

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

alongside '' Siganus sutor'' in Iran.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1950693 Fish of Thailand Siganidae Fish described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus