''Erythrocles'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

es 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 ...

Emmelichthyidae Emmelichthyidae is a small Family (biology), family of small to medium-sized Marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fishes known commonly as redbaits, rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes. The Emmelichthyidae are poorly known even among researchers who ...

, the rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in the western Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Erythrocles'' was first proposed as a genus name in 1919 by 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 ...

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

as a replacement for ''Erythtichthys'', a name proposed by

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch patrician, Zoology, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. Fro ...

and

Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel (10 June 1804 – 17 January 1884) was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist. Early life and education Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated ...

in 1845 but which was preoccupied by a name proposed by

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

in 1831 as an unnecessary replacement for the trahira genus '' Erythrinus''

Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

, 1777. Temminck and Schlegel did not add any species to the genus they described but John Richardson added one, ''Emmelichthys schlegelii'', in 1846. In 1919 Jordan published his replacement name and confirmed Richardson's ''E. schlegelii'' as the

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 ...

. The genus is classified in the small family Emmelichthyidae which is included in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is a large, diverse order of mostly marine ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. In the past, members of this clade were placed in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes, but this treatment ...

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Erythrocles acarina'' Kotthaus, 1974 * '' Erythrocles microceps'' Miyahara & Okamura, 1998 * '' Erythrocles monodi''

Poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Forms of voting and counting * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling pla ...

& Cadenat, 1954 – Atlantic rubyfish * '' Erythrocles schlegelii'' ( J. Richardson, 1846) – Japanese rubyfish * '' Erythrocles scintillans'' ( D. S. Jordan & W. F. Thompson, 1912) – golden kali kali * '' Erythrocles taeniatus'' J. E. Randall & Rivaton, 1992

Characteristics

''Erythrocles'' rubyfishes have an oblong body that has a depth of one-fifth to one-third of its

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

and which is less than the length of the head. The

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 ...

is incised to its base immediately before the last dorsal fin spine. The first dorsal fin contains 10 spines with the second dorsal fin having a single spine and between 10 and 12 soft rays. 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 ...

has 2 or 3 spines and 9 or 10 soft rays. The final 2 rays of dorsal and anal fins are elongated, notably longer than the ray immediately in front of them and largely enclosed in a sheath covered in scales. The lower margin of the preorbital bone is smooth or may have tiny serrations. The largest species is the Japanese rubyfish (''E. schlegelii'') with 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 while the smallest is ''E. acarina'' which has a maximum published standard length of .

Distribution

''Erythrocles'' rubyfishes are found in the eastern and western central Atlantic, the Indian and the western and central Pacific Oceans.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2544341 Emmelichthyidae Taxa named by David Starr Jordan