Crenidens is a small genus of three species of seabream from the family Sparidae from the western Indian Ocean. It was previously regarded as monotypic, with the sole species being the Karenteen sea bream Crenidens crenidens but two other species are now accepted as valid species, separate from the type species, C. crenidens.

Crenidens
Crenidens indicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Spariformes
Family: Sparidae
Genus: Crenidens
Valenciennes, 1830
Type species
Crenidens forskalii
Valenciennes, 1830

Taxonomy edit

Crenidens was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1830 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes with Crenidens forsskalii as its only species and the type species by monotypy.[1] C. forsskalii is now considered to be a synonym of Sparus crenidens, originally described by Peter Forsskål from the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia and Egypt in 1775.[2] This genus is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.[3] Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Boopsinae,[4] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.[3]

Etymology edit

Crenidens combines creni, meaning “crenulate”, with dens, which means “teeth”, an allusion to the crenulate incisor-like teeth of these fishes. This is not tautonymous with Sparus crenidens as Valenciennes had unnecessarily renamed that species C. forskalii.[5]

Species edit

Crenidens contains three recognised species.[6] It was considered to be monotypic but a second and third species are now regarded as valid.[7][8]

Characteristics edit

Crenidens seabreams have 2 rows of incisor-like teeth in each jaw, there may be a third row in the upper jaw, these teeth have 5 points on their cutting edges and the brown edged outer teeth can be moved. They also have several rows of molar like teeth. The cheeks are scaled and there are no curved teeth in the front of the mouth. They have deep, uniformly coloured bodies with relatively small eyes.[9] The largest species in the genus is C. crenidens with a maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in) while the smallest is C. macracanthus which has a maximum published standard length of 14.6 cm (5.7 in).[8]

Distribution edit

Crenidens seabreams are native to the Indian Ocean.[8] C. crenidens has colonised the Mediterranean Sea probably by Lessepsian migration from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Sparidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  2. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Crenidens". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 502–506. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN 2015037522. OCLC 951899884. OL 25909650M.
  4. ^ Parenti, P. (2019). "An annotated checklist of the fishes of the family Sparidae". FishTaxa. 4 (2): 47–98.
  5. ^ "Order SPARIFORMES: Families LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ Nicolas Bailey (2014). "Crenidens". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  7. ^ Yukio Iwatsuki; James Maclaine (2013). "Validity of Crenidens macracanthus Günther 1874 (Pisces: Sparidae) from Chennai (Madras), India, with taxonomic statuses of the congeners (abstract)". Ichthyological Research. 60 (3): 241–248. doi:10.1007/s10228-013-0342-2.
  8. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2023). Species of Crenidens in FishBase. October 2023 version.
  9. ^ Yukio Iwatsuki and Phillip C Heemstra (2022). "Family Sparidae". In Phillip C Heemstra; Elaine Heemstra; David A Ebert; Wouter Holleman; and John E Randall (eds.). Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (PDF). Vol. 3. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. pp. 284–315. ISBN 978-1-990951-32-9.
  10. ^ Golani, Daniel; Azzurro, Ernesto; Jakov, Dulčić; Massutí, Enric; Orsi Relini, Lidia; Briand, Frederic (2021). "Crenidens crenidens". Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (PDF) (2 ed.). Paris,Monaco: CIESM Publishers.