Plagiogeneion
Genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plagiogeneion i is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Emmelichthyidae, the rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in the southeastern Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
| Plagiogeneion | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rubyfish (Plagiogeneion rubiginosum) from the Sydney Fish Market. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Acanthuriformes |
| Family: | Emmelichthyidae |
| Genus: | Plagiogeneion H. O. Forbes, 1890 |
| Type species | |
| Therapon rubiginosus F. W. Hutton, 1875[1] | |
Taxonomy
Plagiogeneion was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1890 by the Scottish explorer, ornithologist, and botanist Henry Ogg Forbes with Therapon rubiginosus, which had been described in 1875 by Frederick W. Hutton from New Zealand,[2] as its only species.[1] The genus is classified in the small family Emmelichthyidae which is included in the order Acanthuriformes.[3]
Etymology
Plagiogeneion is a compound of plagios, meaning "perpendicular", and geneion, which means "jawed", an allusion to the almost vertical mouth of the type species, P. rubiginosum.[4]
Species
There are currently five recognized species in this genus:[5]
- Plagiogeneion fiolenti Parin, 1991
- Plagiogeneion geminatum Parin, 1991
- Plagiogeneion macrolepis McCulloch, 1914 – bigscale rubyfish
- Plagiogeneion rubiginosum (F. W. Hutton, 1875) – rubyfish
- Plagiogeneion unispina Parin, 1991
Characteristics
Plagiogeneion rubyfishes have a body which has a standard length of 2.8 to 3.6 times its depth. They have a continuous dorsal fin which is only slightluy incised at the front of the soft-rayed portion of the fin. The final spines of both the dorsal and anal fins are not longer than the penultimate spines. They lack a fleshy ridge on the side of the caudal peduncle and do not have a groove or fleshy protuberance on rear margin of the gill cavity. The upper spine on operculum is an obtuse flat point or developed as an acute spine. They have a small number of small sharp teeth at the front of the jaws and they may have similar teeth on the vomer and palatines.[6] The rubyfish (P. rubiginosum) is the largest species, attaining a maximum published total length of 60 cm (24 in), while the smallest is P. unispina at a maximum published standard length of 23.9 cm (9.4 in).[5]
