Prionurus
Prionurus | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Prionurus laticlavius (razor surgeonfish) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Acanthuriformes |
Family: | Acanthuridae |
Subfamily: | Acanthurinae |
Tribe: | Prionurini J. L. B. Smith, 1966 |
Genus: | Prionurus Lacépède, 1804 |
Type species | |
Prionurus microlepidotus Lacépède, 1804[1]
| |
Species | |
7, see text | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Prionurus is a
Taxonomy
Prionurus was first proposed as a
Etymology
Prionurus means "sawtail" a reference to the 3 to 7 immobile keeled bony plates on each side of the
Species
There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[5]
- Prionurus biafraensis (Blache & Rossignol, 1961) - Biafra doctorfish
- Prionurus chrysurus J. E. Randall, 2001
- Prionurus laticlavius (Valenciennes, 1846) - razor surgeonfish
- Prionurus maculatus J. D. Ogilby, 1887 - yellowspotted sawtail
- Lacépède, 1804 - sixplate sawtail
- Prionurus punctatus T. N. Gill, 1862 - yellowtail surgeonfish
- Prionurus scalprum Valenciennes, 1835 - scalpel sawtail
Characteristics
Prionurus species have oval, compressed bodies with a steep angle on the head above the snout. The small mouth is protrusible and is positioned low on the head. The teeth are set closely together and are moderately large, flattened and have serrated edges. They have 8 or 9 spines in the
Distribution
Prionurus have a predominantly Pacific range with six of the seven species being found in the Pacific Ocean,[5] two of these, P. laticlavus and P. punctatus being endemic to the eastern Pacific[6] and one, P. biafraensis, being endemic to the Eastern Atlantic.[5]
References
- ^ 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 1 August 2023.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Prionurus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
- ^ 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 2 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2023). Species of Prionurus in FishBase. June 2023 version.
- ^ a b "Genus: Prionurus, Surgeonfishes, Sawtails". Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 2 August 2023.