The magnificent rabbitfish (''Siganus magnificus''), also known as the magnificent foxface or the Andaman foxface, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a rabbitfish belonging to the family

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 from the eastern Indian Ocean. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a length of .

Taxonomy

The magnificent foxface was first formally described in 1977 as ''Lo magnificus'' by the American

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 ...

Warren E. Burgess A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

with the type locality given as Phuket in 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 ...

off Thailand. Burgess placed it in the genus ''Lo'' alongside the other "foxfaced rabbitfishes" but this genus is now subsumed within the genus '' Siganus,'' although some workers still treat it as a

subgenus 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 ...

. S. magnificus has an

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

range to the closely related

foxface rabbitfish The foxface rabbitfish (''Siganus vulpinus''), also known as the foxface, black-face rabbitfish or common foxface, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a rabbitfish belonging to the Family (biology), family Siganidae. It is found in the Indian ...

(''S. vulpinus''), which has a wide Western Pacific distribution. The specific name ''magnificus'' means "splendid", a reference to the beautiful coloration of this fish.

Description

The magnificent rabbitfish has an oval compressed body with a relatively elongated snout. There are 13 spines and 10 soft rays in its long dorsal fin, 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. It has a slightly forked caudal fin. This species attains a maximum total length of , but it is rarely longer than . The background color of the body is white, broken by a large black saddle-like blotch with fine spots on its margins. There is also a black facial stripe. The pectoral, anal and caudal fins have bright yellow margins, while the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin has a pale red margin.

Distribution and habitat

The magnificent rabbitfish is endemic to the

. It has been recorded with certainty from the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar, and the Surin and Similan Islands in Thailand, it may also occur around the

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands * Andaman Sea * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film * ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film * ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film See also * Andaman and Nicobar Islands ...

and

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

to the west but it has not been searched for there. Reports of this species from Java and Sumatra require confirmation. It is found at depths between on coral reefs, most commonly on sheltered reefs among branching corals.

Biology

''Signus magnificus'' has a diet of on algae and small invertebrates. The adults are frequently encountered in pairs, while the secretive juveniles tend to occur solitarily and use the coral to provide shelter. Magnificent rabbitfishes are thought to have a lifespan of about 10-12 years, becoming sexually mature at 2 years old. The pelagic larval stage of this species means that there is likely only to be a single population.

Conversation and utilisation

The magnificent rabbitfish is classified as Least Concern by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. The reefs it is found on in Thailand are far enough offshore to be relatively safe from development and many are in protected areas. This species is collected for the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2496170 Fish of Thailand Siganidae Fish described in 1977