Rabbitfish

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the cartilaginous fish also known as rabbitfish, see Rabbit fish.

Rabbitfish
Marbled spinefoot (Siganus rivulatus)
Foxface rabbitfish (S. vulpinus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Superfamily: Siganoidea
Family: Siganidae
Genus: Siganus
Fabricius, 1775[1]
Type species
Siganus rivulatus
Fabricius, 1775[1]
Species

About 29, see text

Synonyms[1][2]

Rabbitfishes or spinefoots,

food fish, and can be used in the preparation of dishes such as bagoong
.

Taxonomy

The genus Siganus was described in 1775 by the Danish

Danish Arabia expedition (1761–67) and was published in Carsten Niebuhr's Descriptiones animalium avium, amphibiorum, piscium, insectorum, vermium; quae in itinere orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Post mortem auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Catalog of Fishes lists the authority as " Fabricius [J. C.] (ex Forsskål) in Niebuhr 1775" and states that the genus is valid as "Siganus Fabricius 1775".[1]

Carl Linnaeus originally described the genus Teuthis, with the type species being Teuthis hepatus. One of the type specimens he used looks like Siganus javus, although the other is definitely not a rabbitfish, and the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has been asked to suppress the name Teuthis in favour of Siganus to reflect the prevailing usage.

The name Siganus is a latinisation of the local Arabic name for the marbled rabbitfish (S. rivulatus) in Yemen, Sidjan which can also be written as Sigian, and means "rabbitfish".[3]

S. puellus (Masked spinefoots)
with their foxface-like pattern

In 2007 Kurriwa et al., outlined a way to split the genus—if the scientific community so desires:[4]

  • An ancient group containing e.g. S. woodlandi
  • Another fairly small group containing, e.g., the S. canaliculatus/S. fuscescens) complex
  • The remainder of Siganus, including the foxfaces

Other lineages might exist and make obsolete the somewhat weak distinction between the second and third groups. Also, it is not known where the

subgenera or genera
are not established at present.

S. lineatus, as well as between S. doliatus and S. virgatus.[4]

Also, either females of the last common ancestor of

S. punctatissimus and the foxfaces, while males of the latter mated with females of the original foxface species.[4]

An individual was found that looked like a slightly aberrant blue-spotted spinefoot (

backcrossed with the blue-spotted spinefoot.[4]

Species

As noted above, several presumed species are suspected to actively interbreed even today; these might warrant merging as a single species. This applies to the white-spotted spinefoot (

parapatric.[4]

S. corellinus
(Blue-spotted spinefoot)
S. javus (Streaked spinefoot), a relative of the foxfaces
S. fuscescens (Mottled spinefoot), Australia
A school of S. spinus (Little spinefoots), relatives of the Mottled spinefoot

There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus:[5]

Characteristics

Rabbitfishes have laterally compressed, oval bodies which may be deep, or slender. A few species have a tubular snout. The mouth is very small and is with non protractile jaws which have one row of compressed, closely set, incisor-like teeth in each jaw. The teeth overlap slightly and create a beak like structure. The

total lengths of 20 cm (7.9 in) in the case of the blotched foxface (S. unimaculatus) to 53 cm (21 in) in the streaked spinefoot (S. javus).[9]

Distribution and habitat

Rabbitfishes are found in the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and the coast of eastern Africa through the Pacific Ocean as far as Pitcairn Island.[5] Two Red Sea species S. rivulatus and S. luridus have invaded the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, a process known as Lessepsian migration.[10][11] These fishes are found in inshore tropical and subtropical waters where they occur in reefs, lagoons, mangroves and seagrass beds.[12]

Biology

All rabbitfish are

benthic algae in the wild. However, Siganus rivulatus was recently observed feeding on jellyfish (Scyphozoa) and comb jellies (Ctenophora) in the Red Sea.[14] Also Siganus fuscescens have been observed eating prawns and other baits, suggesting that some species are opportunistic omnivorous feeders. The live passage of benthic organisms in the guts of invasive rabbitfish (ichthyochory) was shown to play a major role in the long distance dispersal and bioinvasion of foraminifera.[15] Rabbitfish lay adhesive eggs and some species live as monogamous pairs.[6]

Venom

Rabbitfish have venomous spines in the dorsal and pelvic fins. In at least one species the venom has been found to be similar to that found in

stonefish.[16]

Utilization

Rabbitfish can be important species for commercial fisheries, particularly the schooling species. The catch is largely sold fresh but juveniles may be dried or processed to make fish paste. Some species are used in aquaculture and some of the more colorful species are found in the aquarium trade.[6] Some species have been reported to be hallucinogenic.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Siganidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  2. ISBN 978-2-8399-1344-7
    .
  3. ^ 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 21 August 2021.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.04.018
    .
  5. ^ a b Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Siganus in FishBase. June 2021 version.
  6. ^
    ISBN 92-5-104587-9
    .
  7. ISBN 0-691-00481-1
    .
  8. ^ Taylor, Geoff (2000). "Toxic fish spine injury: Lessons from 11 years experience". Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medical Society. 30 (1): 7–8.
  9. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2023). "Siganidae" in FishBase. October 2023 version.
  10. ISBN 978-3925919541
    .
  11. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Siganus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  12. ^ Dianne J. Bray. "Rabbitfishes, Siganidae". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  13. doi:10.1163/15685403-00003753
    .
  14. S2CID 24694789
    .
  15. ISSN 2378-2242
    .
  16. PMID 29055787
    .
  17. ^ Halstead BW, Cox KM (1973) "An investigation on fish poisoning in Mauritius", Proc Roy Soc Arts Sci Mauritius, 4 (2): 1–26.
  18. ^ Siganus argenteus: Yellowspotted Spinefoot Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  19. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2013). "Siganus argenteus" in FishBase. October 2013 version.
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