''Nemadactylus macropterus'', the tarakihi, jackass morwong or deep sea perch, 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 ...

, traditionally regarded as 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 ...

Cheilodactylidae Cheilodactylidae, commonly called morwongs but also known as butterfish, fingerfins, jackassfish, sea carp, snappers, and moki, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The common na ...

, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is found in the south western Pacific Ocean, in Australia and New Zealand. Although there are records from the southern Indian Ocean and southwestern Atlantic, these may be due to misidentifications of similar species.

Taxonomy

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' was first formally described in 1801 as ''Cichla macroptera'' by the German

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 ...

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (; 22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed pastor and naturalist. Born in Tczew, Dirschau, Pomeranian Voivodeship (1466–1772), Pomeranian Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Tczew, Po ...

with the type locality given as New Zealand. In 1839 Sir John Richardson described a new species ''Nemadactylus concinnus'' from Tasmania he created 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 ...

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 ...

Nemadactylus ''Nemadactylus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. They are found in the South Atlantic, Indian and Sou ...

'' for it, ''N. concinnus'' was later considered to be 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 Forster's ''C. macroptera'', making this species 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 ''Nemadactylus'' as Richardson's N. concinnus. The specific name ''macropterus'' means "long-winged", a reference to the very elongated seventh ray of the

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 ...

s. Genetic and morphological analyses strongly support the placement of ''Nemadactylus'' in the family

Latridae Latridae commonly called trumpeters, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in temperate seas in the Southern Hemisphere. The classification of the species within the Latridae and the related Cheilodactylidae is unclear.They are ...

, alongside almost all of the other species formerly classified in the Cheilodactylidae.

Description

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' has 17 - 18 spines and 25-28 soft rays in its dorsal fin and 3 spines and 14-15 soft rays in its

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 ...

. It attains a maximum total length of , although is more typical, and a maximum published weight of . This is a large species with an overall silvery colour with a wide black band or crescentic marking which runs from the nape to the base of the pectoral fin. The seventh pectoral fin ray is elongated. The fins are light to dark-greyish without any clear markings. The juveniles are also silvery but have dark bands or blotches on their upper bodies.

Distribution and habitat

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' is definitely found in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it occurs along the southern coast from Broken Bay, New South Wales to Rottnest Island, Western Australia, its range encompassing Tasmania too. It is widespread in New Zealand, occurring from

Cape Reinga Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua (; sometimes spelled Rēinga, ) is the northwestern most tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town ...

to the seas immediately south of the

Snares Islands The Snares Islands (; officially Snares Islands / Tini Heke), known colloquially as The Snares, is a group of uninhabited islands lying about south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-southwest of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The Snar ...

, on the shallower areas on the Chatham Rise and off the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...

. There are reports of this species from South America and islands in the southern Indian Ocean but it is thought that these may be misidentifications of similar looking congeners. It is found on deep reefs in depths down to , although they are known to enter large coastal bays at times.

Biology

''Nemadactylus macropterus'' has a maximum lifespan of approximately 35 years, and maturation is obtained at the age of 3-6 years. They spawn from the periods of February to June. The young ''N.macropterus'' are found in high density in the inner and mid shelf, while the adults reside on the outer continental shelf. This species has a diet of benthic invertebrates including

polychaetes Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are m ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

and

echinoderms An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larv ...

. There are known regular spawning aggregations in New Zealand waters and individuals have been known to migrate up to from their home range to breed.

References

* * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) *D. A. Robertson (1978) Spawning of tarakihi (Pisces: Cheilodaetylidae) in New Zealand waters, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 12:3, 277-286, DOI:10.1080/00288330.1978.9515754 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2290899 macropterus Fish described in 1801