''Hoplolatilus fourmanoiri'', commonly known as the yellow-spotted tilefish, 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 ...

, a

tilefish file:Malacanthus latovittatus.jpg, 250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus'' Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family (biology), family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially n ...

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 ...

Malacanthidae 250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus'' Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs. They have a long life span, up to ...

. Some authors consider ''Hoplolatilus luteus'' a junior synonym of ''Hoplolatilus fourmanoiri'', based upon morphological and molecular data.

Etymology

The generic name ''Hoplolatilus'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''hoplon'', meaning ''weapon''.

Distribution

This species is native to tropical Western Pacific,

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, and

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Habitat and biology

''Hoplolatilus luteus'' is a coastal reef-associated fish. It prefers depths between . These tropical fishes can usually be observed on silty sand bottoms with coral rocks. They live solitary or in pairs. They mainly feed zooplankton. This species is listed as Least Concern.

Description

''Hoplolatilus fourmanoiri'' can reach a length of . These fishes have a thin, elongated body, compressed on the sides. The body is whitish, with a few yellow spots close to the head and on the back and a dark bluish spot close to the operculum. The caudal fin is truncated, with a dark spot in the central part. They show 10 dorsal spines and 21-13 dorsal soft rays. Anal spines are 2, while anal soft rays are 18 – 19.

References

External links