''Pseudanthias pleurotaenia'' also known as the squarespot anthias, pink square anthias, mirror basslet or squarespot fairy basslet 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 ...

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Anthiinae Anthias are members of the family Anthiadidae in the order Perciformes. The group has also been called Anthiidae or Anthiinae, but these names are preoccupied by a subfamily of ground beetles in the family Carabidae erected by Bonelli in 1813 ...

of 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 ...

Serranidae Serranidae is a large family (biology), family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, ...

, the

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

s and sea basses. This species of

Pseudanthias ''Pseudanthias'' is a genus of colourful reef fishes of the subfamily Anthiinae, part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found in the Indo-Pacific. The species belonging to this genus have a diet consisting of zoopla ...

is a reef dwelling fish of the

Pacific 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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Ocean. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade and grows to a size of 20 cm in length. The males are deep pink and orange in colour with a large quadrilateral purplish blotch on the flank, a red tip on the posterior margin of the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

lobes have mauve tips and there is a reddish stripe which runs from the snout through the eye and through the base 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 ...

to the base of the tail. Females and juveniles are yellowish in colour with orange edges to their scales and they have two purple stripes which run from the eye along the lower flanks to the base of the tail. It is found around reefs at depths of . Its range extends from

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, ...

in the east,

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in the west, north to the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

, and south to

Rowley Shoals The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centred on , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll covers a ...

and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, as well as throughout

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

. As with many reef fish, it is a

sequential hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodit ...

, beginning life as a female, and transitioning to male in response to environmental and social factors. The males and females normally occur sexually separate aggregations in the vicinity of drop-offs where there are strong currents, while the solitary juveniles stay close to shelter. Mixed sex aggregations are known.

Gallery

File:Pseudanthias pleurotaenia (36587782635).jpg, Male Pseudanthias pleurotaenia at

Wakatobi National Park Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was established in 2002. The name of Wakatobi is a portmanteau of the four main Tukangbesi Islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Since 2005 t ...

Indonesia, 2017 File:Squarespot anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia) (29887548488).jpg, Male Pseudanthias pleurotaenia at Morotai

North Maluku North Maluku (; ) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares marit ...

, 2018 File:Squarespot anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia) (38933805980).jpg, Male Pseudanthias pleurotaenia at

Lembeh Lembeh is an island off the north east coast of Sulawesi near the city of Bitung. Lembeh Island is 25 km long and 2 km wide. Lembeh Island is separated from the mainland of Sulawesi by a narrow stretch of water known as the Lembeh Stra ...

Sulawesi, 2018 File:11-EastTimor-Dive K-57 08 (Purple Basslet Fary)-APiazza.JPG, Male Pseudanthias pleurotaenia at

Manatuto Municipality Manatuto (, ) is one of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of 45,541 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,783.3 km2. The capital of the municipality is also na ...

Timor Leste, 2011 File:Square-spot Fairy Basslets (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia) female and Two-spot Banded Snapper (Lutjanus biguttatus) (8498479068).jpg, Female Pseudanthias pleurotaenia at Mabul, Sabah, MALAYSIA, 2010 File:SumireNHD.jpg, Female Pseudanthias pleurotaenia

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2613591 pleurotaenia Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker Fish described in 1857