''Rypticus'' is a genus 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 ...

, related to 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 classified within 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 ...

Epinephelinae Groupers are a diverse group of marine Actinopterygii, 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 m ...

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, ...

. It is one of several genera of soapfishes. These fish live in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, 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 ...

s in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and warmer temperate zones.Guimarães, R. Z. P. (1999)
Revision, phylogeny and comments on biogeography of soapfishes of the genus ''Rypticus'' (Teleostei: Serranidae).
''Bulletin of Marine Science'' 65(2) 337-79.

Description

The genus can be distinguished from the rest of the Serranidae by a few morphological details, such as its lack of anal fin spines. It also has only two to four dorsal fin spines; other serranids have more. The mouth is large and the lower jaw protrudes. The coloration varies, but usually a brown stripe runs from the mouth to the front of the dorsal fin. Several species are distinctly spotted. '' R. bistrispinus'' has red-brown spots, '' R. bornoi'' and '' R. subbifrenatus'' have dark brown, rounded spots, '' R. maculatus'' has white spots, '' R. bicolor'' and '' R. courtenayi'' have many rounded, pale cream spots, and '' R. nigripinnis'' has ocellated (eye-like) spots, while '' R. randalli'' is more blotchy than spotted.

Biology

Like many other soapfishes, ''Rysticus'' species secrete large amounts of toxic

mucus Mucus (, ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both Serous fluid, serous and muc ...

from their skin in response to stress. The toxin,

grammistin Grammistins are peptide toxins synthesised by glands in the skin of soapfishes of the tribes Grammistini and Diploprionini which are both classified within the grouper subfamily Epinephelinae, a part of the family Serranidae. Grammistin has a hemol ...

, repels predators. ''Rypticus'' species are nocturnal, feeding at night on

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

mollusc 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 ...

s, and fish. These fish are

protogynous hermaphrodites 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 hermaphrodite ...

, with females able to change sex to male. This is not uncommon among the serranids. ''Rypticus'' is unique, though, in that a fish has both male and female reproductive tissues which are separate on the cellular level, but are wrapped around each other in the gonad.

Ecology

Most species live around islands and along the

continental shelves A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

. ''R. nigripinnis'' and ''R. randalli'' can tolerate lower

salinities Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to ...

than many serranids, and they are known to inhabit

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

Taxonomy

Ten species in this genus are known.Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds
''Rypticus'' species.
FishBase. 2011.Bailly, N. (2013)
''Rypticus'' Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1829.
In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Accessed 9 June 2013. The latest, '' R. carpenteri'', was described in 2012.Baldwin, C. C. and L. A. Weigt. (2012)
A new species of soapfish (Teleostei: Serranidae: ''Rypticus''), with redescription of ''R. subbifrenatus'' and comments on the use of DNA barcoding in systematic studies.
''Copeia'' 2012(1) 23-36. Species include: *'' Rypticus bicolor'' (Valenciennes, 1846) (mottled soapfish) *'' Rypticus bistrispinus'' ( Mitchill, 1818) Freckled soapfish *'' Rypticus bornoi'' Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928 (Largespotted soapfish) *'' Rypticus carpenteri''

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

& Weigt, 2012 (Slope soapfish) *'' Rypticus courtenayi'' McArtney, 1979 (Socorran soapfish) *'' Rypticus maculatus'' Holbrook, 1855 (white-spotted soapfish) *'' Rypticus nigripinnis'' Gill, 1861 (blackfin soapfish) *'' Rypticus randalli'' Courtenay, 1967 (plain soapfish) *'' Rypticus saponaceus'' (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (greater soapfish) *'' Rypticus subbifrenatus'' Gill, 1861 (spotted soapfish)

Conservation

''R. courtenayi'' has the narrowest distribution, being

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Revillagigedo Islands The Revillagigedo Islands (, ) or Revillagigedo Archipelago are a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, known for their unique ecosystem. They lie approximately from Socorro Island south and southwest of Cabo San Lucas, the sout ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Its range is only about 25 km². It is listed as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

.Smith-Vaniz, B., et al. 2010
''Rypticus courtenayi''.
In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 9 June 2013.

References

{{Authority control Grammistini Ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier