''Platax'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, reef-associated fish belonging to the family

Ephippidae Ephippidae is a family of percomorph fishes, the spadefishes, in the order Moroniformes. These fishes are found in the tropical and temperate oceans of the world, except for the central Pacific. Taxonomy Ephippidae was first proposed as a fami ...

. There are currently five known

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

species generally accepted to belong to the genus. They are one of the fish

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

commonly known as " batfish".

Description

Members of the genus ''Platax'' are generally similar in shape to the other species in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. Adults are rather disc-shaped fish, with laterally compressed bodies and large dorsal and anal fins that give individuals a somewhat triangular profile. ''

Platax teira ''Platax teira'', also known as the teira batfish, longfin batfish, longfin spadefish, or round faced batfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. This species ...

'' is the largest species, reaching lengths of around . The other species reach maximum lengths of around . It is extremely crucial for these fish to live in waters of a higher salinity percentage. This will allow for the fish to be greatly and positively impacted when it comes to their growth and survival.

Distribution

''Platax'' can be found in reefs throughout the entire

region. Their range extends from the western Indian Ocean in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

to as far east as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Most ''Platax'' species can be found in higher latitudes, as high as the

Ryukyu The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

Islands in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and as far south as the eastern coast of Australia. However, the ranges of the individual species is not consistent throughout the genus' range. ''

Platax pinnatus ''Platax pinnatus'', also known as the longfin batfish, pinnate spadefish, pinnate batfish, pinnatus batfish, dusky batfish, shaded batfish, or red-faced batfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ephippidae, the spad ...

'' for example is most likely not found in the Indian Ocean. A few individuals have been found in

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

waters. Apparently, the species '' Platax orbicularis'' has been observed in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

waters as a non-native,

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

. The

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

industry has been blamed for the spread of this species into the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Members of the genus are most common around

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s and

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

Taxonomy

The genus was first used by

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

with the publication of his 1816 system of animal classification. He assigned the genus to the batfish species ''

Platax boersii ''Platax boersii'', the golden spadefish or Boers’ batfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and bay fishes. This species is found in the Indo-West-Pacific, Indo-West Pa ...

'', a classification which still holds to this day. Another species to be assigned to the genus by Cuvier was '' Platax ocellatus'', a

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical ocean, marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the ...

that is now more correctly classified in the genus ''

Chaetodon ''Chaetodon'' is a tropical fish genus in the family (biology), family Chaetodontidae. Like their relatives, they are known as "butterflyfish". This genus is by far the largest among the Chaetodontidae, with about 90 living species included here, ...

'' in Chaetodontidae. In the same work, a species that is now known to belong to the genus, ''

'' was classified by Cuvier in a different genus, ''Chaetodon teira''. A few species have been assigned to the genus that have since been reclassified into other

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. The butterflyfish, ''C. ocellatus'' mentioned above is one of these species. Another species that has been mistakenly classified as a ''Platax'' is the common freshwater angelfish, ''

Pterophyllum scalare ''Pterophyllum scalare'', most commonly referred to as angelfish or freshwater angelfish, is the most common species of ''Pterophyllum'' kept in captivity. It is native to the Amazon Basin in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. Particularly to the Ucayal ...

''. In a joint effort with

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, Cuvier published a natural history work in 1831 where the freshwater angelfish was classified as ''Platax scalaris''. The freshwater angelfish, of course is not as closely related to the marine batfish as to warrant classification in the same genus. A more scientifically acceptable mis-classification would be that of the species ''

Zabidius novemaculeatus The ninespine batfish (''Zabidius novemaculeatus''), or short-finned batfish, is a species of batfish native to coral reefs around Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia at depths of from . This species grows to a length of TL and has been ...

''. This species was first described as ''Platax novemaculeatus'' by Mcculloch when it was discovered from Australia in the early 1900s. The species is now classified in the genus ''

Zabidius The ninespine batfish (''Zabidius novemaculeatus''), or short-finned batfish, is a species of batfish native to coral reefs around Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia at depths of from . This species grows to a length of TL and has been ...

'', which is still in the same

as the genus ''Platax''. The generic name, "platax" was coined from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

term ''platys'' - meaning "flat". This refers to the generally compressed body shape of the fish. They are commonly called "batfish". However, they are not the only fish taxon called by this name. Fish from the only distantly related family

Ogcocephalidae Ogcocephalidae is a family of anglerfish specifically adapted for a benthic lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes, Other families with species that have been referred to as "batfish" include the families

Dactylopteridae The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly or glide in the air (like flying fish), an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurn ...

Drepaneidae ''Drepane'' is a genus of marine and brackish water ray-finned fishes, known commonly as the sicklefishes. It is the only genus in the monotypic percomorph family Drepaneidae. These fish occur in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, and in the ...

, Monacanthidae, and

Monodactylidae Monodactylidae is a family of perciform bony fish commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with disc-shaped bodies and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, scales occur on their d ...

Species

There are currently five recognized extant species in this genus: Platax altissimus reconstruction

* There are also at least four fossil species known:Paleobiology Database
/ref> * ''

Platax altissimus ''Platax'' is a genus of Indo-Pacific, reef-associated fish belonging to the family Ephippidae. There are currently five known Extant taxon, extant species generally accepted to belong to the genus. They are one of the fish taxon, taxa commonly k ...

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1842 * '' Platax macropterygious'' Agassiz, 1842 * ''

Platax papilio ''Platax'' is a genus of Indo-Pacific, reef-associated fish belonging to the family Ephippidae. There are currently five known extant species generally accepted to belong to the genus. They are one of the fish taxa commonly known as " batfish". ...

'' Agassiz, 1842 * ''

Platax woodwardii ''Platax'' is a genus of Indo-Pacific, reef-associated fish belonging to the family Ephippidae. There are currently five known Extant taxon, extant species generally accepted to belong to the genus. They are one of the fish taxon, taxa commonly k ...

'' Agassiz, 1842

References

External links

Batfish may come to Great Barrier Reef's rescue. NewScientist.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1425409 Ephippidae Extant Eocene first appearances Marine fish genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier