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Cheilodactylidae , commonly called morwongs but also known as butterfish, fingerfins, jackassfish, sea carp, snappers, and moki, is a family of marine
ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
. They are found in subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The common name "morwong" is also used as a name for several unrelated fish found in Australian waters, such as the
painted sweetlips The painted sweetlips (''Diagramma pictum''), also known as the Australian slatey, blackall, bluey, grey sweetlips, moke, morwong, mother-in-law fish, painted blubber-lips, slate bream, slate sweetlips, smokey bream, thicklip or yellowdot sweetlip ...
(''Diagramma pictum''). The classification of the species within the Cheilodactylidae and the related
Latridae Latridae commonly called trumpeters, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in temperate seas in the Southern Hemisphere. The classification of the species within the Latridae and the related Cheilodactylidae is unclear.They are ...
is unclear.


Taxonomy

Cheilodactylidae is classified within the
superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
Cirrhitoidea, under the
suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
Percoidei Percoidei is one of 3 suborders of bony fishes in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are considered to be contained in this suborder, including the snappers, groupers, basses, goatfishes and perches. Divisions Th ...
of the large order
Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...
. Molecular studies have also placed the superfamily within the order Centrarchiformes, although the Cirrhitoidea is confirmed as a
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 ...
clade. The 5th Edition of ''
Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American Ichthyology, ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classificat ...
'' does not recognise Centrarchiformes and retains the superfamily within the order Perciformes. The family has four genera according to the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World, however the authors of that book admit that further studies need to be carried out to resolve the true relationships of all the taxa within the Cirrhitoidea. The traditional delimitation of this family and
Latridae Latridae commonly called trumpeters, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in temperate seas in the Southern Hemisphere. The classification of the species within the Latridae and the related Cheilodactylidae is unclear.They are ...
is based on morphological differences, but the reliability of these differences has been questioned, and
genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...
do not support this treatment, either, leading some to suggest the majority should be in Latridae. Based on this, the only species that should remain in the family Cheilodactylidae are the relatively small ''Cheilodactylus fasciatus'' and ''C. pixi'' from
southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...
. This also means the broader definition of the genus ''Cheilodactylus'' is
polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...
. All other "''Cheilodactylus''" species clearly do not belong with these two in ''Cheilodactylus'' and instead appear to belong in several different genera (only one of which is ''Goniistius''), but how many and their exact delimitation is not clear at present.


Genera

The following genera are classified within the Cheilodactylidae: * '' Cheilodactylus'' Lacépède, 1803 * '' Chirodactylus''
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 ar ...
, 1862
* '' Dactylophora'' De Vis, 1883 * ''
Nemadactylus ''Nemadactylus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. They are found in the South Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific Oceans ...
''
Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia *Richardson, Australian Capi ...
, 1839


Characteristics

Cheilodactylids have a continuous
dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...
which may have the anterior spiny part almost separated from the soft rayed posterior part, the spiny part contains 14–22 spines and the soft rayed part has 19–39 rays. The
anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...
has 3 spines. although the third may be small and quite be difficult to see. and 7–19 soft rays. there are no teeth on the roof of or at the sides the mouth. The lowermost 4-7
pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...
rays of adults are normally robust, elongated, and not attached to the main part of the pectoral fin. The largest species is '' Dactylophora nigricans'' which attains a maximum total length of .


Distribution and habitat

Cheilodactylids are fishes of near-shore rocky reefs to depths of about . They are found mainly in temperate waters in the southern hemisphere but some species classified in the
subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...
'' Goniistius'', of the genus ''Cheilodactylus'' ''
sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
'' extend into the North Pacific.


Biology

Cheilodactylids are nocturnal foragers and are carnivorous, feeding on benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms. They do not guard their eggs.


Fisheries

Cheilodactylids are generally regarded as important food fish and at least one species is targeted by commercial fisheries in Australia.


References


External links

* Smith, Margaret M. 1980
A review of the South African Cheilodactylid fishes (Pisces: Perciformes), with descriptions of two new species. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 42.
Grahamstown, South Africa: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Rhodes University. {{Taxonbar, from=Q675729 Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Cirrhitoidea Ray-finned fish families