The spiny red gurnard (''Chelidonichthys spinosus'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

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 ...

Triglidae ''Triglidae'', commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a Family (biology), family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide. Taxonomy ''Triglidae'' was first des ...

, the gurnards and sea robins. This species is found in the northwestern

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 ...

where they occur at depths of from . This species grows to a length of TL. This species is of commercial importance as a

food fish Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients in the human diet. The English language does not have a s ...

Taxonomy

The spiny red gurnard was first formally described as ''Trigla spinosus'' in 1844 by the British

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

John McClelland with the type locality given a "China". Within the

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 ...

Chelidonichthys ''Chelidonichthys'', the smallscaled gurnards, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. These gurnards are found in the Eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ' ...

'' this species is classified in the nominate

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( 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 between the ge ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''spinosus'' means "spiny" and alludes to the spine on either side of the nape, the large spine on humeral bone above the pectoral fins, a small spine on the operculum, and the pair of spines on the lower corner of the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

Description

The spiny red gurnard has a large triangular shaped head which bears a number of ridges and spines, although it does not have an occipital groove. The diameter of the eyes exceeds the distance between them. Both the soft-rayed

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

and the

anal 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 o ...

contain between 15 and 17 soft rays and the base of both the dorsal fins have small, robustly spined plates, known as bucklers, which result in

ossification Ossification (also called osteogenesis or bone mineralization) in bone remodeling is the process of laying down new bone material by cells named osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone tissue formation. There are two processes resulting in t ...

of the pteridygiophores. There are small scales on the body but the breast lacks scales. The overall colour is olive or brownish, changing to red under stress. The lower part of the pectoral fins has a large number of bluish spots scattered over it. There is some times a black blotch on the inner

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

. This species has attained a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of and a maximum published weight of . Rubio rojo (Chelidonichthys spinosus), Parque natural de la Arrábida, Portugal, 2020-07-23, DD 51.jpg, Spiny red gurnard with its characteristic super-enlarged pectoral fins. Rubio rojo (Chelidonichthys spinosus), Parque natural de la Arrábida, Portugal, 2021-09-09, DD 05.jpg, Top view Rubio rojo (Chelidonichthys spinosus), Madeira, Portugal, 2019-05-30, DD 18.jpg, Camouflaged in gravel Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.ART.216 - Chelidonichthys spinosus (McClleland) - Kawahara Keiga - 1823 - 1829 - Siebold Collection - pencil drawing - water colour.jpeg, Spiny red gurnard, painted by

Kawahara Keiga Kawahara Keiga (, also known as Taguchi Takumi or Toyosuke, Nagasaki, 1786–1860?) was a late Edo period Japanese painter of plants, fishes, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, social scenes, landscapes and portraits at the Dutch Factory of Dejima, a ...

(1823-1829)

Distribution and habitat

The spiny red gurnard is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in the

China Sea The China Seas consist of a series of marginal seas in the Western Pacific Ocean, around China. They are the major components signifying the transition from the continent of Asia to the Pacific Ocean.Pinxian Wang, Qianyu Li, Chun-Feng Li, ''Geol ...

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

and in Japan mainly west of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. occurs in the tropical to warm temperate areas on sandy or sandy mud substrates at depths of .

Fisheries

The spiny red gurnard is regarded as an excellent food fish and is fished for by trawling throughout its range.

As food

The spiny red gurnard is eaten in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. 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 ...

, it is known as ''hōbō''. File:Chelidonichthys spinosus from Ehime Prefecture, Japan.jpg, Japanese red gurnard

sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...

Boiled fish red gurnard.jpg, Japanese red gurnard

nimono is a simmered dish in Japanese cuisine. A nimono generally consists of a base ingredient simmered in ''shiru'' stock and seasoned with sake, soy sauce, and a small amount of sweetening. The nimono is simmered in the shiru over a period of time ...

References

External links

spiny red gurnard Marine fauna of East Asia spiny red gurnard {{Scorpaeniformes-stub