''Paracirrhites'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

hawkfish Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs. Taxonomy The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturalis ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cirrhitidae. These fishes are found on

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

s of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Taxonomy

''Paracirrhites'' was described in 1874 by the Dutch

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

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

, Bleeker designated ''Grammistes forsteri'', described by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

naturalist

Johann Gottlob Schneider Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German classicist and naturalist. Biography Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob Heine, he became secretary to ...

in 1801, as the type species for his new genus in 1876. This genus appears to be a

sister taxon 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 ...

to the genera ''

Amblycirrhitus ''Amblycirrhitus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes, hawkfishes belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. These fishes are found on tropical reefs worldwide. Taxonomy ''Amblycirrhitus'' was originally described as a genus in 1862 by the American ichth ...

'' and ''

Cirrhitus ''Cirrhitus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes from the family Cirrhitidae. The species in this genus are found on tropical reefs worldwide. Taxonomy ''Cirrhites'' was first formally described as a genus in 1803 by the French ...

'' within the Cirrhitidae. The genus name is a compound of ''para'' meaning “near" or "similar to" and ''Cirrhites'', an alternative spelling of the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nomina ...

of the family Cirrhitidae, ''

''. There are three species of little known, small, largely

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...

and very similar ''Paracirrhites'' hawkfishes from

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, ''P. bicolor'', ''P. nisus'' and ''P. xanthus''. These were all described by John E. Randall in 1963. It has been suggested that these are actually colour morphs of the same polymorphic species which has undergone some introgression of genes from the widespread and also sympatric arc-eye hawkfish.

Species

The six currently recognized

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

in this genus are: * '' Paracirrhites arcatus'' ( G. Cuvier, 1829) (arc-eye hawkfish) * '' Paracirrhites bicolor'' J. E. Randall, 1963 * ''

Paracirrhites forsteri The black-side hawkfish (''Paracirrhites forsteri''), freckled hawkfish or Forster's hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is from the Indo-Pacific. It is occasionally found in the ...

'' ( J. G. Schneider, 1801) (blackside hawkfish) * '' Paracirrhites hemistictus'' ( Günther, 1874) (whitespot hawkfish) * ''

Paracirrhites nisus ''Paracirrhites'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. These fishes are found on tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Paracirrhites'' was described in 1874 by t ...

'' J. E. Randall, 1963 * ''

Paracirrhites xanthus ''Paracirrhites xanthus'', the yellow hawkfish or the blueline yellow hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. it is found in the eastern central Pacific. It can be found in the aquarium ...

'' J. E. Randall, 1963 Some authorities treat '' Paracirrhites amblycephalus'' as a valid species but

Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

treats this taxon as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly 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 al ...

of ''P. arcatus''.

Characteristics

''Parracirrhites'' hawkfishes are distinguished from other cirrhitid genera by having 5 scale rows between the lateral line and the base of the spiny part of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

, each spine in the dorsal fin has a single cirrus at its tip and the membranes between the spines in the dorsal fin are not deeply notched. There are no teeth on the

palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

. Other common features are the upper 1-2 and lower 6-7 pectoral fin rays are unbranched and robust, they have 11 soft dorsal fin rays and the preoperculum is either smooth or has very small serrations. The pectoral fins do not extend as far as the tips of the pelvic fins and the caudal fin varies from truncate to rounded. These fish vary in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

between in the case of ''Paracirrhites bicolor'' and for the whitespot hawkfish (''P. hemistictus'').

Distribution and habitat

''Paracirrhites'' hawkfishes have an Indo-Pacific distribution with a range which extends from East Africa east as far as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

. They are associated with coral reefs and rocky substrates.

Biology

''Paracirrhites'' hawkfishes are predatoruy fish which prey on other fishes and crustaceans. They are

sit and wait predators Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey usi ...

which rest on the substrate or perch on corals and other benthic invertebrates, adults lacking a swimbladder.

Utilisation

''Paracirrhites'' hawkfishes belonging to the smaller, commoner species ''P. arcutus'' and ''P. forsteri'' are collected for the aquarium trade. The larger species are sometimes fished for food but on a limited commercial basis.

References

* Bleeker P., 1874. Sur les espèces insulindiennes de la famille des Cirrhitéoïdes. Versl. Akad. Amsterdam v. 15. 1-20. * Cuvier, G. & Valenciennes, A., 1829. Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome troisième. Suite du Livre troisième. Des percoïdes à dorsale unique à sept rayons branchiaux et à dents en velours ou en cardes. Historie naturelle des poissons. v. 3: i-xxviii + 2 pp. + 1–500, Pls. 41–71. * Randall, J. E., 1963. Review of the hawkfishes (family '' Cirrhitidae''). Proceedings of the United States National Museum v. 114 (núm. 3472): 389–451, 16 pls. * Bloch, M. E. & Schneider, J. G., 1801. M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit Jo. Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Auctoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum. M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae.: i-lx + 1–584, Pls. 1–110. * Günther, A., 1874. Andrew Garrett's Fische der Südsee. Band I, Heft. III. Journal des Museum Godeffroy, Band II, Heft VII. F. Friederichsen & Co., Hamburg. Andrew Garrett's Fische der Südsee.: 58–96, Pls. 40–60.

Bibliography

* Fritzsche, R.A., 1982. ''

Osteichthyes Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartila ...

''. A: Parker, S.P., Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms, vol. 2. McGraw-Hill,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

: 858–944.