Anthias are members of the family

Serranidae The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some ca ...

and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow

reef fish Coral reef fish are fish which live amongst or in close relation to coral reefs. Coral reefs form complex ecosystems with tremendous biodiversity. Among the myriad inhabitants, the fish stand out as colourful and interesting to watch. Hundreds ...

es seen swarming in most

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

photography and film. The name Anthiidae is preoccupied by a subfamily of ground beetles in the family

Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fami ...

created by

Bonelli Bonelli is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonia Paula de la Resurreccion Bonelly (1786–1870), colonial woman of East Florida * Aurelio Bonelli (c.1569 – after 1620), Italian composer, organist and painter * ...

in 1813 and this grouping should be called the Anthiadinae. However, both the 5th Edition of '' Fishes of the World'' and Fishbase give the Serranid subfamily as "Anthiinae". Anthias are mostly small, thus are quite popular within the ornamental fish trade. They form complex social structures based on the number of males and females and also their position on the reef itself, and are mainly

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

feeders. They occur in all

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

s and

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

s of the world. The first species recognized in this group was described in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and northeast

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and was given name ''Anthias anthias'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in 1758. Anthias can shoal by the thousands. Anthias do school in these large groups, though they tend toward more intimate subdivisions within the school, appropriately called "harems". These consist of one dominant, colorful male, and two to 12 females — which have their own hierarchy among them — and up to two 'subdominant' males, often less brightly colored and not territorial. Within the swarm of females, territorial males perform acrobatic U-swim displays and vigorously defend an area of the reef and its associated harem. Most anthias are protogynous hermaphrodites. These anthias are born female; if a dominant male perishes, the largest female of the group will often change into a male to take its place. This may lead to squabbling between the next-largest male, which sees an opportunity to advance, and the largest female, whose hormones are surging with testosterone. Seven genera of anthias are known to occur in coral reef ecosystems: '' Holanthias'', '' Luzonichthys'', '' Nemanthias'', ''

Plectranthias ''Plectranthias'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the subfamily Anthiinae, part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 57 recognized species i ...

'', ''

Pseudanthias ''Pseudanthias'' is a genus of colourful reef fishes of the subfamily Anthiinae, part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found in the Indo-Pacific. The species belonging to this genus have a diet consisting of zooplan ...

'', '' Rabaulichthys'', and '' Serranocirrhitus''. Members of all these genera make it into the aquarium trade, although ''Pseudanthias'' is by far the most encountered in the hobby.

Genera

The following genera are classified within the Anthiinae: * '' Acanthistius''

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1862 * '' Anatolanthias''

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

, Parin & Randall, 1990 * '' Anthias'' Bloch, 1792 * '' Baldwinella'' Anderson & Heemstra, 2012 * ''

Caesioperca ''Caesioperca'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the sub-family Anthiinae in the sea bass family Serranidae. It contains just two species, found in the ocean off Southern Australia and New Zealand.Hutchins, B., and R. Swainson (1996). ''Sea Fish ...

'' Castelnau, 1872 * '' Caprodon''

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), former American football linebacker * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, older brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlege ...

, 1843 * '' Choranthias'' Anderson & Heemstra, 2012 * '' Dactylanthias'' Bleeker, 1871 * '' Epinephelides'' Ogilby, 1899 * '' Giganthias'' Katayama, 1954 * '' Hemanthias'' Steindachner, 1875 * '' Holanthias'' Günther 1868 * '' Hypoplectrodes'' Gill, 1862 * '' Lepidoperca''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1914 * '' Luzonichthys'' Herre, 1936 * '' Meganthias'' Randall & Heemstra, 2006 * '' Nemanthias'' J.L.B. Smith, 1954 * '' Odontanthias'' Bleeker, 1873 * '' Othos'' Castelnau, 1875 * ''

'' Bleeker, 1873 * '' Pronotogrammus'' Gill, 1863 * ''

'' Bleeker, 1871 * '' Rabaulichthys''

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

, 1984 * '' Sacura''

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

& Richardson, 1910 * '' Selenanthias'' Tanaka, 1918 * '' Serranocirrhitus'' Watanabe, 1949 * '' Tosana'' H.M. Smith &

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, 1906 * '' Tosanoides'' Kamohara, 1953 * ''

Trachypoma The toadstool groper (''Trachypoma macracanthus''), also known as the Pacific rockcod, Pacific perch, Strawberry cod and whitespotted sea bass is a sea bass of the subfamily Anthiinae of the family Serranidae, is found in the southern Pacific Ocea ...

'' Günther, 1859

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2011837 Serranidae Fish subfamilies