''Chirodactylus'' 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 ...

, traditionally regarded as 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 ...

, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. They are native to the Atlantic, Indian and eastern Pacific oceans off

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 ...

and South America.

Taxonomy

''Chirodactylus'' was described as a genus in 1862 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Nicholas Gill with the South American ''Cheilodactylus antonii'', which had been described by Achille Valenciennes in 1833, as the type species by monotypy. Gill subsequently included two other species in ''Chirodactylus'', ''C. grandis'' and ''C, variegatus''. ''C. antonii'' was later shown to be a synonym of ''Cheilodactylus variegatus''. ''Chirodactylus'' was largely regarded as a synonym of ''Cheilodactylus'' until 1980 when the South African ichthyologist Margaret M. Smith resurrected it to include the three southern African species ''C. brachydactylus'', ''C. grandis'' and ''C. jessicalenorum'', as well as ''C. variegatus''. Genetic and morphological analyses strongly suggest that ''Chirodactylus'' is a valid genus, that the inclusion of the red moki (''Cheilodactylus spectabilis'') does not affect its

monophyly In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent comm ...

and that the genus should be placed in the family

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 ...

. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World, however, retains the genus within the family Cheiloactylidae. The name of the genus is a compound of ''cheiros'' which means "hand" and ''dactylus'' meaning "finger", a reference to the long, unbranched lower rays of the pectoral fins.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus (''sensu'' Smith, 1980): * '' Chirodactylus brachydactylus'' ( G. Cuvier, 1830) (Two-tone fingerfin) * '' Chirodactylus grandis'' ( Günther, 1860) (Bank steenbras) * '' Chirodactylus jessicalenorum'' M. M. Smith, 1980 (Natal fingerfin) * '' Chirodactylus variegatus'' (Valenciennes, 1833) (Peruvian morwong)

Characteristics

''Chirodactylus'' morwongs are characterised by having an ovoid, compressed body and a slightly sloped dorsal profile of the head. The continuous

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

increases in height from the front spine to the sixth spine and after that the spines get shorter, there are 17-18 spines and 22-31 soft rays in the dorsal fin, while the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has 3 spines and 7-10 soft rays. 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 ...

s have 14 rays with the lower 6–7 rays being simple and robust. They have 46-56 scales along the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

. There are no bony protuberances on the head. These fishes vary in maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

from in the case of ''C. brachydactylus'' to for ''C. grandis''.

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Chirodactylus'' (''sensu'' Smith, 1980) morwongs are found in the south eastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian Ocean off southern Africa and the eastern Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile. They are typically coastal fishes of rocky areas where they feed on benthic invertebrates.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2167160 Chirodactylus Taxa named by Theodore Gill Latridae Cheilodactylidae