''Latris'' 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 skin ...

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 ...

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 ...

, the trumpeters. They are found in the southern oceans.

Taxonomy

''Latris'' was first formally described in 1839 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 ...

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Specialis ...

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

Arctic explorer Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...

Sir John Richardson with 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 ...

being ''Latris hecateia'', this being the only species in the genus. Richardson’s name was later shown 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 ...

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 ...

’s ''Cichla lineata''. The name of the genus, ''Latris'', means “slave” or “servant”, Richardson did not explain why he chose this name.

Species

There are currently two recognized

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), ...

in this genus: * ''

Latris lineata ''Latris lineata'', the striped trumpeter, common trumpeter, copper moki, Hobart-town trumpeter, kokikohi, real trumpeter, Tasmanian striped trumpeter or Tasmanian trumpeter, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology ...

'' ( J. R. Forster, 1801) (Striped trumpeter) * ''

Latris pacifica The silver trumpter (''Latris pacifica'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Latridae, the trumpeters. It has only been recorded from the Foundation Seamounts in the South Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy The silver trumpeter ...

'' C. D. Roberts, 2003 (Silver trumpeter)

Characteristics

''Latris'' has two species which, although

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

analyses suggest that they are

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

, share few obvious derived morphological characteristics which separate them from other Latrid genera. Before the discovery of ''Latris pacifica'' it was thought that the presence of vomerine teeth was a character separating the genus from the others in the family but ''L. pacifica'' does share this characteristic. Meristic counts are of doubtful usefulness but these fishes have a

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 ...

with 17-20 spines and 33-44 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 26-37 soft rays. They also have 37-43 vertebrae. The maximum

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 ...

s are for ''L. pacifica'' and for ''L. lineata''.

Distribution and habitat

Latris species are found in the temperate southern oceans. ''Latris lineata'' has been confirmed to occur in the southern Indian Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean and the Southern Atlantic. ''L. pacifica'' have only been recorded from the

Foundation Seamounts Foundation Seamounts are a series of seamounts in the southern Pacific Ocean. Discovered in 1992, these seamounts form a chain which starts from the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. Some of these seamounts may have once emerged from the ocean. The Fou ...

in the South Pacific Ocean. They are associated with rocky reef habitats.

Fisheries

''Latris'' trumpeters are quarry for commercial fisheries from New Zealand while in other parts of its range the striped trumpeter is a desirable target for recreational fisheries. Their flesh is considered to be highly palatable.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5232832 Latridae Ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)