''Cheilodactylus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cheilodactylidae Cheilodactylidae, commonly called morwongs but also known as butterfish, fingerfins, jackassfish, sea carp, snappers, and moki, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The common na ...

, known as morwongs, although this name is not unique to this family. They are found in the temperate waters of the southern hemisphere and in the North Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Cheilodactylus'' was first formally described in 1803 by the French naturalist

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French natural history, naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's g ...

when he described ''Cheilodactylus fasciatus'' which was its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

monotypy 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 ...

. The traditional delimitation of the families Cheilodactlidae and

Latridae Latridae commonly called trumpeters, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in temperate seas in the Southern Hemisphere. The classification of the species within the Latridae and the related Cheilodactylidae is unclear.They are ...

is based on morphological differences, but the reliability of these differences has been called into doubt, and a phylogenetic analyses and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

have not supported this arrangement. This has led to some authorities suggesting that the majority of species in Cheilodactylidae should be placed in Latridae. A result of this rearrangement is that the only species which would remain in Cheilodactylidae are ''Cheilodactylus fasciatus'' and ''C. pixi'' from

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

. This is because these analyses resolved the genus ''Cheilodactylus'' as

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. These studies appear to show that most of the species in ''Cheilodactylus'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' instead apparently to belong in several different genera and are not even members of the same family, but how many and their exact delimitation is not clear at present. The outlier species have been assigned to '' Chirodactylus'', '' Goniistius'', '' Morwong'' and '' Pseudogoniistius'', but

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

and morphologic analyses found those species to be nested within

and more derived than the kelpfish, marblefish and the ''Cheilodactylus'' type species ''C. fasciatus''. The name of the genus is a compound of ''cheilos'' meaning “lip”, a reference to the thick, fleshy lips of the adults, and ''daktylos'' which means “finger”, a reference to the elongated lower rays on the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

Species

The genus ''Cheilodactylus'' ''sensu lato'' includes sixteen species, this list shows the genera they have been assigned to under the proposed revised taxonomy: *''Cheilodactylus'' ** ''

Cheilodactylus fasciatus The redfingers (''Cheilodactylus fasciatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheilodactylidae, commonly referred to as morwongs. It is found only off the coasts of Namibia and South Africa, in ro ...

'' Lacépède, 1803 (Redfingers) ** ''

Cheilodactylus pixi The barred fingerfin (''Cheilodactylus pixi'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheilodactylidae, commonly referred to as morwongs. It is found only in the southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Ind ...

'' M. M. Smith, 1980 (Barred fingerfin) *'' Chirodactylus'' ** ''

Cheilodactylus spectabilis The red moki (''Cheilodactylus spectabilis'') also known as the banded morwong, brown-banded morwong, carp or nanua is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, commonly referred to ...

'' F. W. Hutton, 1872 (Red moki) *'' Goniistius'' ** ''

Cheilodactylus francisi ''Cheilodactylus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, known as morwongs, although this name is not unique to this family. They are found in the temperate waters of the southern hemisphere and in the N ...

'' C. P. Burridge, 2004 (Blacktip morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus gibbosus'' J. Richardson, 1841 (Western crested morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus plessisi'' J. E. Randall, 1983 (Plessis' morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus quadricornis'' Günther, 1860 ** '' Cheilodactylus rubrolabiatus'' G. R. Allen & Heemstra, 1976 ** '' Cheilodactylus vestitus'' ( Castelnau, 1879) (Crested morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus vittatus'' A. Garrett, 1864 (Hawaiian morwong) ** ''

Cheilodactylus zebra ''Cheilodactylus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheilodactylidae, known as morwongs, although this name is not unique to this family. They are found in the temperate waters of the southern hemis ...

'' Döderlein ( de), 1883 (Redlip morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus zonatus'' G. Cuvier, 1830 (Spottedtail morwong) *'' Morwong'' ** '' Cheilodactylus fuscus'' Castelnau, 1879 (Red morwong) ** '' Cheilodactylus ephippium'' McCulloch & Waite, 1916 (Painted moki) *'' Pseudogoniistius'' ** '' Cheilodactylus nigripes'' J. Richardson, 1850 (Magpie perch)

References

{{Authority control Marine fish genera * Fish described in 1803 Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède