''Ceyx'' is an

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by th ...

genus of

river kingfisher The river kingfishers or pygmy kingfishers, subfamily Alcedininae, are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers. The river kingfishers are widespread through Africa and east and south Asia as far as Australia, with one species, the common ...

s. These kingfishers are found from South East Asia to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

. The genus was introduced by the French naturalist

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

in 1799, and derives its name from the Greek myth of

Alcyone and Ceyx In Greek mythology, Alcyone or Halcyone (; grc, Ἀλκυόνη, Alkyónē derived from grc, ἀλκυών, alkyṓn, kingfisher, label=none) and Ceyx (; grc, Κήϋξ, Kḗÿx) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god Zeus ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

is the oriental dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx erithaca''). A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the alcedinine kingfishers published in 2007 found that the genera as then defined did not form

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

groups. The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

were subsequently rearranged into four monophyletic genera. The

little kingfisher The little kingfisher (''Ceyx pusillus'') is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Alcedininae. Taxonomy The first formal description of the little kingfisher was by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1836 under the current bino ...

azure kingfisher The azure kingfisher (''Ceyx azureus'') is a small kingfisher in the river kingfisher subfamily, Alcedininae.Pizzey, Graham and Doyle, Roy. (1980) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia.'' Collins Publishers, Sydney. Description The azure k ...

Bismarck kingfisher The Bismarck kingfisher (''Ceyx websteri'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, freshwater lakes, and freshwater mar ...

, silvery kingfisher and

Indigo-banded kingfisher The Indigo-banded kingfisher (''Ceyx cyanopectus'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it is generally uncommon but locally widespread in the northern and central islands. Taxonomy There are ...

were moved from ''Alcedo'' to ''Ceyx''. All except one of the birds in the reconstituted genus have three rather than the usual four toes. The exception is the

Sulawesi dwarf kingfisher The Sulawesi dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx fallax'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to Sulawesi island, Indonesia. The species has numerous common names such as Celebes forest kingfisher, blue-crowned kingfisher, Cele ...

which retains a vestigial fourth toe. The

Moluccan dwarf kingfisher The Moluccan dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx lepidus''), formerly known as the variable dwarf kingfisher, is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. Taxonomy This species was previous named the variable dwarf kingfisher and had 15 recognised subs ...

(''Ceyx lepidus'') was previous named the

variable dwarf kingfisher Variable dwarf kingfisher is a common name of a group of kingfishers in the genus, '' Ceyx''. The variable dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx lepidus'' or ''Alcedo lepidus'') formerly included 15 subspecies. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2013 ...

and included 15 recognised subspecies. A genetic study published in 2013 found that most of the subspecies had substantially diverged from one another. The species was therefore split and 12 of the subspecies were promoted to species status. At the same time the name was changed from the variable dwarf kingfisher to the Moluccan dwarf kingfisher. The two African species in the genus '' Ispidina'' were sometimes placed in this genus. Compared to the related species in the genus ''

Alcedo ''Alcedo'' is a genus of birds in the kingfisher subfamily Alcedininae. The genus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The type species is the common kingfisher (''Alcedo ispida'', now ''Alce ...

'' they are more terrestrial. There are 21 species in the genus: * Oriental dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx erithaca'' * Philippine dwarf kingfisher ''Ceyx melanurus'' *

, ''Ceyx fallax'' *

, ''Ceyx lepidus'' – previously named a subspecies of the "variable dwarf kingfisher" * Dimorphic dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx margarethae'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * Sula dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx wallacii'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * Buru dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx cajeli'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * Papuan dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx solitarius'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * Manus dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx dispar'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * New Ireland dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx mulcatus'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * New Britain dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx sacerdotis'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher * North Solomons dwarf kingfisher, ''Ceyx meeki'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher *

New Georgia dwarf kingfisher The New Georgia dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx collectoris''), is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the west central Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is sub-tropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species was ...

, ''Ceyx collectoris'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher *

Malaita dwarf kingfisher The Malaita dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx malaitae''), is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to Malaita Island. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species was formerly considered as o ...

, ''Ceyx malaitae'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher *

Guadalcanal dwarf kingfisher The Guadalcanal dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx nigromaxilla''), is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to Guadalcanal Island. Its natural habitat is sub-tropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species was formerly con ...

, ''Ceyx nigromaxilla'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher *

Makira dwarf kingfisher The Makira dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx gentianus'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to Makira Island. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species was formerly considered one of ...

, ''Ceyx gentianus'' – previously a subspecies of the variable dwarf kingfisher *

, ''Ceyx cyanopectus'' – previously in ''Alcedo'' * Southern silvery kingfisher ''Ceyx argentatus'' – previously in ''Alcedo'' * Northern silvery kingfisher ''Ceyx flumenicola'' – split from ''C. argentatus'' *

Azure kingfisher The azure kingfisher (''Ceyx azureus'') is a small kingfisher in the river kingfisher subfamily, Alcedininae.Pizzey, Graham and Doyle, Roy. (1980) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia.'' Collins Publishers, Sydney. Description The azure k ...

''Ceyx azureus'' – previously in ''Alcedo'' *

''Ceyx websteri'' – previously in ''Alcedo'' *

Little kingfisher The little kingfisher (''Ceyx pusillus'') is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Alcedininae. Taxonomy The first formal description of the little kingfisher was by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1836 under the current bino ...

''Ceyx pusillus'' – previously in ''Alcedo''

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceyx (Kingfisher) Alcedininae Bird genera Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède