''Siganus punctatus'' the goldspotted spinefoot, goldspotted rabbitfish, punctuated spinefoot, spotted rabbitfish, spotted spinefoot or yellow-spotted spinefoot, 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 ...

, a

rabbitfish Rabbitfishes or spinefoots, genus ''Siganus'', are perciform fishes in the family (biology), family Siganidae. It is the only Extant taxon, extant genus in its family and has 29 species. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having ...

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 ...

Siganidae Siganidae, the rabbitfishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. The only extant genus is '' Siganus'', the rabbitfish and spinefoot. However, a number of genera are known from fossils. The extant species are marine ...

. It occurs in the Indo-West Pacific region.

Taxonomy

''Siganus punctatus'' was first formally described in 1801 as ''Amphacanthus punctatus'' by

Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German Empire, German classicist and natural history, naturalist. Biography Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob H ...

and

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 Nomuka Island in the Ha'apai Group of Tonga. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''punctatus'' means “spotted”, a reference to the golden spots on the head, body and tail.

Description

''Siganus punctatus'' has a laterally compressed, deep body which has a depth which fits into its

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

between 1.9 and 2.3 times. The head has a straight dorsal profile, it runs from the forehead to the snout at an angle of 45°, while the ventral profile is slightly indented underneath the chin. In fish of less than standard length the front nostril has a flap extending half-way to the rear nostril, this flap is reduced to a low rim with a relict posterior peak once the standard length has reached . A recumbent spine is to the front 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 ...

, it is imbedded in the nape. Like all rabbitfishes, the dorsal fin has 13 spines and 10 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 7 spines and 9 soft rays. The fin spines are robust and hold venom glands. The caudal fin is emarginate in individuals with a standard length of less than as the fish grows it slowly changes to become deeply forked with the tips of the lobes broadly rounded. This species attains a maximum total length of , although is more typical. The overall colour is greyish with a dense pattern of brown spots with darker margins over the head, body and fins. There is sometimes a pale saddle on the

caudal peduncle 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 ...

and a large

ocellus A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

to the rear of the upper margin of the gill cover. The spots on juveniles are fewer in number and larger in size. There is frequently a very narrow yellow margin to the caudal fin.

Distribution and habitat

''Siganus punctatus'' has a wide

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the s ...

distribution extending from the

Cocos (Keeling) Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

in the eastern Indian Ocean east to Samoa, north to

Ryukyu 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

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total area of but only two of the islands are permanen ...

of Japan and south to Australia. In Australia its range runs from

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

north and east along the northern tropical coast and then south on the east coast as far as

North West Solitary Island North West Solitary Island is an island found off the New South Wales coast and inside the continental shelf. It is located 30 km north-east of Coffs Harbour and about 18 km south of Wooli. The island is part of the Solitary Islands Ma ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, it is also found at

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 Scott Reef off Western Australia, the

Ashmore Reef The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australian external territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), as well as the territorial sea generated by the islands ...

in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

and in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

at Coringa-Herald Cays and

Lihou Reef Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve is a former marine protected area covering an area of 8440 km2 in the Australian Coral Sea Islands Territory that was incorporated into the new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve in December 2012. ...

. It occurs down to in depth in clear lagoons and on seaward reefs as adults while the juveniles school in estuaries.

Biology

''Siganus punctatus'' live in pairs on reefs as adults while the juveniles aggregate in

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s of up to 50 fish, the size of the schools decline as the fish mature and they begin to pair off once they have attained a standard length of around , but fish as large as may still be in schools. They feed on benthic algae. This species produces

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

in the spines of its fins. In a study of the venom of a congener it was found that rabbitfish venom was similar to the venom of

stonefishes Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, ...

Utilisation

''Siganus punctatus'' is caught by

spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

or in

fish trap A fish trap is a animal trapping, trap used for fishing, catching fish and other aquatic animals of value. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster trap, cage traps, fish wheels and some fishing net rigs such as fyke nets. The use of traps ar ...

s and the catch is sold as fresh fish. It is occasionally found in the

aquarium trade Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. It is a practice that encompasses the art of maintaining one's own aquatic ecosystem, featuring a lot of variety with various ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2474505 Fish described in 1801 Siganidae Taxa named by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster