''Hapalogenys'', the barbeled grunters or velveltchins, is a genus 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 ...

, it is the only

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 ...

in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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 ...

Hapalogenyidae, also spelled Hapalogeniidae. The species of this genus are found in depths between in coastal areas and river mouths from the shores of southern

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 ...

to the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and

Northwestern Australia The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoi ...

Etymology

''Hapalogenys'' is a compound of ''hapalos'' meaning "soft" and ''genys'' meaning "chin", Richardson stating that this referred to "velvety softness of the chin and lower lip, which is made more conspicuous by contrast with the rigidly rough scales that cover the rest of the head".

Characteristics

''Hapalogenys species have compressed bodies. They have 10 pores on and to the rear of the chin, these include a pair of tiny pores near the

symphysis A symphysis (, : symphyses) is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones. It is a type of cartilaginous joint, specifically a secondary cartilaginous joint. # A symphysis is an amphiarthrosis, a slightly movable joint. # A growing together o ...

, The lower jaw and chin have dense clusters of short

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprini ...

s. They have small teeth which are arranged in bands on the jaws, vomer, and palatines. They have 7

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

supporting the gill membranes. They have scales on the upper part and sides of the head. Their

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 ...

s contain 11 spines and 13–15 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 ...

has 3 spines and 8–9 soft rays. They have rounded

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 ...

s. ''Hapalogenys nigripinnis'' is the largest species, attaining a maximum

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 .

Species

There are currently eight recognized species in this genus: * '' Hapalogenys analis'' J. Richardson, 1845 (Broadbanded velvetchin) * '' Hapalogenys bengalensis'' Mohapatra, D. Ray & Kumar, 2013Mohapatra, A., Ray, D. & Kumar, V. (2013): A new fish species of the Genus ''Hapalogenys'' (Perciformes: Hapalogenyidae) from the Bay of Bengal, India. ''Zootaxa, 3718 (4): 367–377.'' * '' Hapalogenys dampieriensis'' Iwatsuki & B. C. Russell, 2006 (Australian striped velvetchin) * '' Hapalogenys filamentosus'' Iwatsuki & B. C. Russell, 2006 (Philippine dark velvetchin) * '' Hapalogenys kishinouyei'' H. M. Smith & T. E. B. Pope, 1906 (Lined javelinfish) * '' Hapalogenys merguiensis'' Iwatsuki, Satapoomin & Amaoka, 2000 (Mergui velvetchin) * '' Hapalogenys nigripinnis'' (

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

& Schlegel, 1843) (Short barbeled velvetchin) * '' Hapalogenys sennin'' Iwatsuki & Nakabo, 2005 (Long barbeled grunter)

Systematics

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 ...

of the genus is ''Hapalogenys nitens'', which was described by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Sir John Richardson in 1844, this was 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 ...

of ''Pogonias nigripinnis'' which had been described by Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel in the previous year. ''H. nitens'' was designated as the type species of ''Hapalogenys'' by

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...

in 1876. 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 ...

treats the family as a separate family within the

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means " perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters ( Percidae), and als ...

although it is noted that they are in a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of seven families which show that they are probably close to the

Acanthuroidei Acanthuroidei , is a group of ray finned fishes which is a suborder of the Acanthuriformes, although older classifications regarded it as a suborder of the Perciformes, the largest order (biology), order of fish, The suborder includes the surgeonf ...

Monodactylidae Monodactylidae is a family of perciform bony fish commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with disc-shaped bodies and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, scales occur on their d ...

, and

Priacanthidae The Priacanthidae, the bigeyes, are a Family (biology), family of 18 species of marine ray-finned fishes. "Catalufa (disambiguation), Catalufa" is an alternate common name for some members of the Priacanthidae. The etymology of the scientific ...

. Other authorities place the genus within the family

Lobotidae Lobotidae is a family of ray-finned fishes that includes the tripletails, which are circumtropical marine fishes, and tiger perches, which are Asian freshwater fishes. The family is placed in the order Spariformes in the 5th edition of ''Fishes of ...

, with the tigerfishes, ''

Datnioides ''Datnioides'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lobotidae. These fishes are commonly known as tigerfish, tiger perch or freshwater tripletails. These fishes are found in the rivers of southern Asia and new Guinea. Taxonomy ...

''.

References

External links

* * World Register of Marine Species
''Hapalogenys''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q141004 Perciformes genera Hapalogenys Marine fish genera Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)