Anthias

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Anthias
Jeweled Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) ♀

Jeweled Anthias ( Pseudanthias squamipinnis ) ♀

Systematics
Acanthomorphata
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Perch-like (Perciformes)
Family : Sawfish (Serranidae)
Subfamily : Anthias
Scientific name
Anthiadinae
Poey , 1861

Tilefish (Anthiadinae) are among the family of groupers and live with almost 230 species in tropical and subtropical seas. Most of the species in this subfamily are extremely colorful.

Distribution, habitat and way of life

Most species come from the Indo-Pacific , some also live in the Atlantic , Anthias anthias also occurs in the Mediterranean . Usually the 6-18 cm large animals live in large schools with hundreds to thousands of specimens on the outside of the coral reefs and feed on animal plankton . Species with a small number of gill rakes , such as Acanthistius sp., Hypoplectrodes semicinctum , Trachypoma macracanthus and most Plectranthias species, tend to be solitary, avoid open water and feed primarily on larger prey such as crustaceans and small fish. Many anthropoid species are extremely common in the reefs. In terms of numbers, they represent a substantial part of the fish fauna. Their predators include groupers , scorpion fish and moray eels . Anthias seek shelter between the corals when in danger.

features

Most species of anthias reach lengths of ten to twenty centimeters (40 cm for Meganthias ). Their bodies are usually spindle-shaped and laterally flattened, but there are also very high-backed species. The dorsal fin is continuous and long, the caudal fin is usually deeply forked and / or elongated like a filament at the upper and lower edge.

The dorsal fin is supported by 10 to 13 hard and 13 to 16 soft rays. In the anal fin there are 6 to 9 hard and 13 to 16 soft rays. The caudal fin is usually supported by 13 branched fin rays. The maxillary is scaly in most species.

Males and females of the very brightly colored, red, orange or purple species are often colored very differently and thus show a pronounced sexual dimorphism . Some species change color during mating.

gender transformation

In every school, the females always make up the overwhelming majority of the animals. Often there are around 50 females for each male. Anthias are proterogynous hermaphrodites. Sexually mature animals are first female and later transform into males. By "social oppression" the dominant males prevent the females in their harem from transforming into males. If a male dies, the strongest female transforms into a male in a few days and takes over the vacated position.

Systematics

The subfamily of Anthias was temporarily classified as a separate family . In the meantime, it has become established to regard this group of fish as a subfamily of the saw bass . Within the subfamily, most of the species were originally assigned to the genus Anthias . Due to recent taxonomic studies, however, only nine species living in the Atlantic are included in this genus. Most of the species are now found in the genus Pseudanthias , which consists of 45 species living in the Indo-Pacific.

For a long time the name Anthiinae , which was introduced in 1871 by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker , was used as the scientific name for anthias . However, the name is preoccupied by a tribe of ground beetles (Anthiini Bonelli , 1813 ). Anthiadinae is used as the new scientific name for anthias, coined in 1861 by the Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey .

Genera and species

In an overview published in September 2018, 29 genera and 226 species are considered to be valid for anthias.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b W. D. Anderson, Jr .: Annotated checklist of anthiadine fishes (Percoidei: Serranidae). In: Zootaxa . 4475 (1), 2018, pp. 1–62. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4475.1.1
  2. ↑ WD Anderson, PC Heemstra: Review of Atlantic and eastern Pacific Anthiine fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Serranidae), with descriptions of two new genera . (= Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. New Series 102, 2). 2012, ISBN 978-1-60618-022-8 .
  3. ^ Margaret M. Smith, Phillip C. Heemstra: Smiths' Sea Fishes. Southern Book Publishers, 1999, ISBN 3-642-82860-4 , p. 510.
  4. ↑ Addenda to Family-group names in Recent Fishes 30 August 2015
  5. ^ RL Pyle, BD Greene, JM Copus, JE Randall: Tosanoides annepatrice, a new basslet from deep coral reefs in Micronesia (Perciformes, Percoidei, Serranidae). In: ZooKeys. 786, 2018, pp. 139–153.
  6. ↑ Hudson T. Pinheiro, Claudia Rocha, Luiz A. Rocha: Tosanoides aphrodite, A New Species from Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of St. Paul's Rocks, Mid Atlantic Ridge (Perciformes, Serranidae, Anthiadinae). In: ZooKeys . 786, 2018, pp. 105-115. doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.786.27382

Web links

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