Naso (fish)

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Naso
Temporal range: Eocene to present[1]
Short-nosed unicornfish
, N. brevirostris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Acanthuridae
Subfamily: Nasinae
Fowler & Bean, 1929
Genus: Naso
Lacépède
, 1801
Type species
Naso fronticornis

Lacepède, 1801
Species

See text

Synonyms[2]

Naso is a

ray-finned fishes belonging to the family, Acanthuridae, the unicornfishes, surgeonfishes and tangs. The fishes in this genus are known commonly as unicornfishes because of the "rostral protuberance", a hornlike extension of the forehead present in some species.[3]
Unicorn fish are popular with spearfishermen[4] and may be cooked by grilling them whole.[5] Unicornfish primarily live around coral reefs and eat mostly algae.[6] It is very popular in Maldives.

This genus is distributed across the Indo-Pacific from Africa to Hawaii.[7]

Taxonomy

Naso was first proposed as a genus in 1801 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède when he described Naso fronticornis as a new species from Jeddah and Mauritius.[2] Lacépède's name was an unnecessary replacement of Chaetodon unicornis described by Peter Forsskål in 1775 from Jeddah.[8] In 1917 David Starr Jordan designated Naso fronticornis as the type species of the genus Naso.[2] Naso is the only genus in the monogeneric subfamily Nasinae, proposed by Henry Weed Fowler and Barton Appler Bean in 1929[9] within the family Acanthuridae.[10]

Species

Naso is divided into 2 subgenera[11] and 20 species are classified within it:[12]

Etymology

Naso means "nose" referring to the fleshy protuberance on the forehead of N. fronticornis.[11]

Characteristics

Naso unicornfishes have a pointed snout and a rhomboidal or oval shaped body, with some species possessing a long protuberance on the forehead, typically present in both males and females. The

total length of 100 cm (39 in) in the whitemargin unicornfish (N. annulatus).[12] There are two subgenera which are distinguished by the number of keels on the caudal peduncle with the nominate subgenus, Naso having a pair on each side of the peduncle while the subgenus Axinurus has a single keel on each side.[14]

Distribution

Naso unicornfishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region from the eastern coast of Africa to the Galápagos Islands.[13]

Biology

Naso unicornfishes differ from other Acanthurids in that they eat zooplankton rather than grazing on algae or detritus and that they tend to live at greater ranges of depth.[13]

References

  1. ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  2. ^ a b c Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Acanthuridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  3. ^ Dayton, C. (2001). "Genetic evolution among selected members of the genus Naso (Nasinae), "unicornfishes" from Guam". Marine Biology. 139 (4): 771–76.
  4. ^ Fishing at the tip of the spear in Guam
  5. ^ "Unicorn Fish the weird but delicious fish". The Arena Media Brands, LLC. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes/Tangs)". Reef App encyclopaedia for marine animals. Kasper Hareskov Tygesen. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  7. doi:10.2307/1447705
    .
  8. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Naso". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  9. PMID 25543675
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6
    .
  11. ^ a b Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  12. ^ a b Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2023). Species of Naso in FishBase. February 2023 version.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-1-990951-32-9
    .
  14. doi:10.2307/1446677
    .
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