Golden Threadfin Bream
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''Nemipterus virgatus'', the golden threadfin bream or yellowlipped threadfin bream, 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 ...
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 ...
Nemipteridae, the threadfin breams. This species is found in the Western Pacific Ocean.


Taxonomy

''Nemipterus virgatus'' was first formally described as ''Sparus virgatus'' in 1782 by the Dutch
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 ...
Martinus Houttuyn Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720 – 2 May 1798; Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn) was a Dutch naturalist. Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history, e.g. ...
with its type locality given as Japan. 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 ...
'' classifies '' Nemipterus'' within the family Nemipteridae which it places 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 ...
Spariformes Spariformes is an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of six families within the series Percomorpha. Taxonomy Spariformes was first used as a taxonomic term in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Trad ...
.


Etymology

''Nemipterus virgatus'' has 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 ...
''virgatus'', which means "striped", an allusion to the yellow longitudinal stripes on the upper body and flanks of this fish.


Description

''Nemipterus virgatus'' has its
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 ...
supported by 10 spines and 9 soft rays while 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 ...
contains3 spines and 8 soft rays. Its body has a
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 ...
that is 3.2 to 4 times its depth and it has a snout that is longer than the diameter of the eye. There are 3 or 4 pairs of canine-like teeth in the front of the upper jaw. The
pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectora ...
and the
pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...
s are long, extending to between level of anus and origin of the anal fin. The caudal fin is only moderately forked with the upper lobe being extended into a filament. The colour of the upper body is pink becoming paler on the lower body. There is a yellow stripe on the back above the
lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...
and 5 more stripes on the flanks below the lateral line. The breast and belly are white. The head is pink with a yellow stripe running from the upper lip onto the lower front margin of the eye, there are sometimes 2 indistinct yellow bars over the cheeks. The eyeis rosy in colour and the upper lip is yellow. The dorsal fin is light pink with a wide yellow margin which has a red edge at the front of the fin, and another yellow stripe immediately above its base. The anal fin is semi-transparent pinkish with a yellow stripe below its margin and a thin yellow stripe immediately over its base, extending to tip of last soft ray. The caudal fin is pink with a yellow upper margin and extended. The pelvic fins are pinkish, with a yellow line along the second and third fin rays and the pectoral fins are semi-transparent and pinkish. The maximum published
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 ...
of this fish is , although is more typical.


Distribution and habitat

''Nemipterus virgatus'' is found in the Western Pacific Ocean where it is found in southern Japan, the
East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...
, and the northern part of the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
where it ranges from Vietnam to the
Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...
, and the Philippines. There is a separate population in northwestern Australia and the
Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...
. The golden threadfin bream is a
demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...
which is found at depths between typically between , although juveniles tend to be in shallower water than the adults, over sandy and muddy substrates.


Biology

''Nemipterus virgatus''is a rudimentary
hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...
, the males have functional male gonads but also have some ovarian tissue for their whole life. In the South China Sea
spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...
occurs between February and June, peaking between February and April. They feed on smaller fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods.


Fisheries and conservation

''Nemipterus virgatus'' is an important target species for commercial fisheries in the east China Sea and South China Sea where it is caught using handlines, longloines and bottom trawls, while the juveniles are caught in large numbers as bycatch in shrimp trawl fisheries. The annual catch of this species declined by 30% in the ten years up to 2010 and the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
assesses it as Vulnerable.


See also

* Chikuwa


References

* Golden Threadfin Bream, Nemipterus virgatus (Houttuyn 1782) & fishesofaustralia.net.au
/small> {{Taxonbar, from=Q703335 virgatus Marine fauna of East Asia Marine fish of Southeast Asia Fish described in 1782 Taxa named by Martinus Houttuyn