''Nemadactylus macropterus'', the tarakihi, jackass morwong or deep sea perch, 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 h ...

, traditionally regarded as belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is found in the south western Pacific Ocean, in Australia and New Zealand. Although there are records from the southern Indian Ocean and southwestern Atlantic, these may be due to misidentifications of similar species.

Taxonomy

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' was first formally described in 1801 as ''Cichla macroptera'' by the German naturalist

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...

with the type locality given as New Zealand. In 1839 Sir John Richardson described a new species ''Nemadactylus concinnus'' from Tasmania he created the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Nemadactylus'' for it, ''N. concinnus'' was later considered to be a synonym of Forster's ''C. macroptera'', making this species the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of the genus ''Nemadactylus'' as Richardson's N. concinnus. The specific name ''macropterus'' means "long-winged", a reference to the very elongated seventh ray of 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. Genetic and morphological analyses strongly support the placement of ''Nemadactylus'' in the family Latridae, alongside almost all of the other species formerly classified in the Cheilodactylidae.

Description

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' has 17 - 18 spines and 25-28 soft rays in its dorsal fin and 3 spines and 14-15 soft rays in its anal fin. It attains a maximum total length of , although is more typical, and a maximum published weight of . This is a large species with an overall silvery colour with a wide black band or crescentic marking which runs from the nape to the base of the pectoral fin. The seventh pectoral fin ray is elongated. The fins are light to dark-greyish without any clear markings. The juveniles are also silvery but have dark bands or blotches on their upper bodies.

Distribution and habitat

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' is definitely found in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it occurs along the southern coast from Broken Bay, New South Wales to Rottnest Island, Western Australia, its range encompassing Tasmania too. It is widespread in New Zealand, occurring from

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

to the seas immediately south of the

Snares Islands The Snares Islands / Tini Heke, known colloquially as The Snares, is a group of uninhabited islands lying about 200 km south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-southwest of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The Snares consist of the m ...

, on the shallower areas on the Chatham Rise and off the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

. There are reports of this species from South America and islands in the southern Indian Ocean but it is thought that these may be misidentifications of similar looking congeners. It is found on deep reefs in depths down to , although they are known to enter large coastal bays at times.

Biology

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' has a maximum lifespan of approximately 35 years, and maturation is obtained at the age of 3-6 years. They spawn from the periods of February to June. The young ''N.macropterus'' are found in high density in the inner and mid shelf, while the adults reside on the outer continental shelf. This species has a diet of benthic invertebrates including

polychaetes Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...

crustaceans 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 gro ...

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

and echinoderms. There are known regular spawning aggregations in New Zealand waters and individuals have been known to migrate up to from their home range to breed.

References

* * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) *D. A. Robertson (1978) Spawning of tarakihi (Pisces: Cheilodaetylidae) in New Zealand waters, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 12:3, 277-286, DOI:10.1080/00288330.1978.9515754 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2290899 macropterus Fish described in 1801