Proteracanthus is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. The only species in the genus is Proeracanthus sarissophorus which occurs in coral reefs around Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra.[1] This species is also known as the harpoon spadefish,[2] or in Malaysia as drummer, knightfish, rudderfish or sea chub. This species grows to a length of 32.5 centimetres (12.8 in) SL.[1]
| Proteracanthus | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Moroniformes |
| Family: | Ephippidae |
| Genus: | Proteracanthus Günther, 1859 |
| Species: | P. sarissophorus
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| Binomial name | |
| Proteracanthus sarissophorus (Cantor, 1849)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Taxonomy edit
Proteracanthus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1859 by the German-born British herpetologist and ichthyologist Albert Günther. Its only species was Crenidens sassiphorus[3] which had been described in 1849 by the Danish zoologist Theodore Edward Cantor with its type locality given as the Sea of Penang in Malaya.[4] This taxon belongs to the family Ephippidae[4] in the order Moroniformes.[5]
Etymology edit
Proteracanthus is a combination of proteros, meaning “before” or “earlier”, with acanthus, a “spine” or “thorn”. This is a reference to the horizontal spine in front of the dorsal fin. The specific name combines sarissa, a “pike”, with phorus, meaning “to bear”, an allusion to the elongated fourth spine of the dorsal fin.[6]
References edit
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2023). "Proeracanthus sarissophorus" in FishBase. February 2023 version.
- ^ P. C. Heemstra (2001). "Ephippidae (spadefishes (batfishes)". In Carpenter, K.E. & Neim, Volker H. (eds.). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 5: Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae) (PDF). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO Rome. p. 3620.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Ephippidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Proterocanthus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 495–497. 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 7 April 2023.
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