Amblycirrhitus
Amblycirrhitus pinos
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cirrhitidae
Genus: Amblycirrhitus
T. N. Gill, 1862
Type species
Cirrhites fasciatus
Synonyms[1]

Amblycirrhitus is a genus of ray-finned fishes, hawkfishes belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. These fishes are found on tropical reefs worldwide.

Taxonomy

Amblycirrhitus was originally described as a genus in 1862 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Nicholas Gill with the type species designated as Cirrhites fasciatus, which is a synonym of Amblycirrhitus pinos, as this name for a taxon described in 1829 by Cuvier’s was preoccupied.[1] The genus name is a compound of ambly which means “blunt” which Gill did not explain but which may be an allusion to the “abbreviated” head of the type species or possibly of its “slightly convex” snout, and Cirrhitus, the type genus of family.[2]

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:[3]

Characteristics

Amblycirrhitus hawkfishes have moderately compressed oval-shaped bodies with a short, sharp snout over a moderately large mouth. The jaws have an outer row of small canine-like teeth and an inner band of simple teeth[4] and there are teeth on the palatine. They have the uppermost 1 or 2 and the lowest 5 (occasionally 6) pectoral fin rays without branches, these are shorter than the upper unbranched rays. The pectoral fins are reasonably long, at least extending as far as the anus and often as far as the anal fin. They have 11-12 soft rays in the dorsal fin, each dorsal fin spine has a tuft of cirri on the membrane close to the spine and each dorsal fin membrane is deeply notched, with the deepest between the fourth and fifth spine. The preoperculum has serrations on its upper margin. These fish have bodies which have a depth which is roughly a quarter to a third of the standard length.[5] These fish vary in total length between 5.2 and 9.5 cm (2.0 and 3.7 in) [3]

Distribution and habitat

Amblycirrhitus hawkfishes are found in the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. They are found on hard substrates such as coral and rocky reefs and rocky seabeds.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Cirrhitidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (25 February 2021). "Order CENTRARCHIFORMES: Families CENTRARCHIDAE, ELASSOMATIDAE, ENOPLOSIDAE, SINIPERCIDAE, APLODACTYLIDAE, CHEILODACTYLIDAE, CHIRONEMIDAE, CIRRHITIDAE, LATRIDAE, PERCICHTHYIDAE, DICHISTIIDAE, GIRELLIDAE, KUHLIIDAE, KYPHOSIDAE, OPLEGNATHIDAE, TERAPONTIDAE, MICROCANTHIDAE and SCORPIDIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Amblycirrhitus in FishBase. June 2021 version.
  4. ↑ "Genus: Amblycirrhitus, Hawkfishes". Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Randall, J. E. (1963). "Review of the hawkfishes (family Cirrhitidae)". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 114 (3472): 389–451.
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