Oplegnathus
Genus of ray-finned fishes
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Oplegnathus is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine centrarchiform ray-finned fishes.[5] The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused into a parrot-like beak in adulthood. They feed on barnacles and mollusks, and are fished commercially. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[6]
| Oplegnathus Temporal range: [1] | |
|---|---|
| |
| O. fasciatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Centrarchiformes |
| Suborder: | Terapontoidei |
| Family: | Oplegnathidae Bleeker, 1853[2] |
| Genus: | Oplegnathus J. Richardson, 1840 |
| Type species | |
| Oplegnathus conwaii J. Richardson, 1840[3] | |
| Synonyms[4] | |
| |
The earliest records of knifejaws are fossilized beaks, with attached teeth, known from middle Eocene-aged sediments of the La Meseta Formation of Antarctica. Their early occurrence in Antarctica supports it having temperate climate during the Eocene, and that knifejaws had a wider distribution in the past than today.[1]
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[7]
- Oplegnathus conwayi J. Richardson, 1840, 1840 (Cape knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) (barred knifejaw or striped beakfish)
- Oplegnathus insignis (Kner, 1867) (Pacific beakfish)
- Oplegnathus peaolopesi J. L. B. Smith, 1947 (Mozambique knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus punctatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) (spotted knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus robinsoni Regan, 1916 (Natal knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus woodwardi Waite, 1900 (knifejaw)
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