''Chirodactylus variegatus'', the Peruvian morwong
[ or bilagai,][ is a species of marine ]ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
traditionally regarded as belonging to 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 ...
Cheilodactylidae
Cheilodactylidae, commonly called morwongs but also known as butterfish, fingerfins, jackassfish, sea carp, snappers, and moki, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The common na ...
, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
off the western coast of South America.
Taxonomy
''Chirodactylus variegatus'' was first formally described in 1833 as ''Cheilodactylus variegatus'' by the French zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
Achille Valenciennes
Achille Valenciennes (9 August 1794 – 13 April 1865) was a French zoology, zoologist.
Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. His study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasi ...
with the type locality given as Valparaíso
Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
in Chile.[ When the American ]ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
Theodore Nicholas Gill
Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist, and librarian.
Career
Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histor ...
initially described the genus '' Chirodactylus'' in 1962 he included ''Cheilodactylus antonii'' as its type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...
, this was later shown to be a synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
for ''C. variegatus''.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 ...
.[ The 5th edition of ]Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
, however, retains the genus within the family Cheiloactylidae.
Description
''Chirodactylus variegatus'' is a medium-sized fish with a robust, slightly compressed body, the depth of the body is one third of the total length. The body is totally covered with ctenoid scales
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...
. It has a rather small head with small eyes and a small, subterminal mouth with thick lips. The overall colour of the body is greyish, darker dorsally and shading to blackish on the flanks and the belly is pale with a reddish tint. The sides are marked with 6-7 pale vertical bands there are similar coloured spots on and around the caudal peduncle
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
. The fins are a vivid red-orange colour. It has thick, short pectoral fins, a continuous dorsal fin and a small anal fin with two spines free of the fin membrane. The caudal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
is forked.
Distribution
''C. variegatus'' is endemic to the subtropical southeastern Pacific Ocean, within the area bounded by 5°S to 37°S, and 81°W to 71°W . Its range extends southwards along the coast of South America, from Paita
Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in the region. Paita is located 1,089 km northwest of the country's capital Lima, and 57 km northwest of ...
in Peru to Talcahuano
Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.
...
in Chile.[
]
Ecology
''C. variegatus'' occurs in small schools amongst the kelp forests of ''Macrocystis integrifolia
''Macrocystis'' is a monospecific genus of kelp (large brown algae) with all species now synonymous with ''Macrocystis pyrifera''. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or b ...
'' which grow on rocks in the shallow subtidal zone and the lower intertidal zone
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...
on the coast of Chile.[
In a survey of the inhabitants of these kelp forests, there was found to be a wide diversity of ]mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
s and crustacea
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
ns, with the sea urchin '' Tetrapygus niger'' and the gastropod ''Tegula tridentata
''Tegula tridentata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Tegulidae.Bouchet, P. (2013). Tegula tridentata (Potiez & Michaud, 1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Speci ...
'' being dominant. The most common fish was the herbivorous ''Aplodactylus punctatus
''Aplodactylus punctatus'', the Zamba marblefish, is a species of marine ray finned fish, one of the marblefishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Aplodactylidae. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean of the west coast of South America ...
''. The main carnivorous fish were the Peruvian morwong, the Chilean sandperch (''Pinguipes chilensis''), the Cape redfish (''Sebastes capensis'') and the sea chub ''Graus nigra
''Graus nigra'' is a species of ray-finned fish endemic to the Pacific coast of South America, ranging from Valdivia in Chile to southern Peru. This species grows to a total length of and is popular as a game fish. This species is the only know ...
''.
Uses
People of the Chinchorro culture
The Chinchorro culture of South America was a preceramic culture that lasted from 9,100 to 3,500 years BP (7,000 to 1,500 BCE). The people forming the Chinchorro culture were sedentary fishermen inhabiting the Pacific coastal region of curren ...
who inhabited the arid coast of Chile some 3500 BP and built their culture around fishing, had sophisticated fishing equipment and their midden
A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
s show abundant remains of ''C. variegatus'', along with those of the clingfish ''Sicyases sanguineus
''Sicyases sanguineus'' is a species of amphibious marine clingfish in the family Gobiesocidae. It lives in the Southeast Pacific along the entire coast of Chile and southern Peru.
Locally, it is known as ' (literally, toad-fish). It inhabits s ...
'', the Chilean sheepshead wrasse '' Semicossyphus darwini'' and Labrisomid
Labrisomids are small blennioids (blennies), percomorph marine fish belonging to the family Labrisomidae. Found mostly in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, the family contains about 110 species in 15 genera.
Stockier than the average ble ...
s.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2212094
variegatus
Fish of the Pacific Ocean
Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes
Fish described in 1833