''Spicara'' 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Sparidae Sparidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Spariformes, the seabreams and porgies, although they were traditionally classified in the order Perciformes. The over 150 species are found in shallow and deep marine waters in t ...

, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species in the genus are known as picarels.

Taxonomy

''Spicara'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

in 1810 by the French

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

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ult ...

when he described ''Spicara flexuosa'' as a new species. Rafinesque gave the type locality of ''S. flexuosa'' as

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. The genera ''Spicara'' and ''

Centracanthus ''Centracanthus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sparidae, the seabreams and porgies. There is a single extant species in this genus, as well as an extinct species classified within the genus. The extant species is ...

'' were formerly classified within the family Centracanthidae but

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analyses recovered the family Sparidae as paraphyletic if Spicara was not included within it. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the picarels in the family Sparidae within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Spariformes Spariformes is an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of six families within the series Percomorpha. Taxonomy Spariformes was first used as a taxonomic term in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Trad ...

by the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

''. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Boopsinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.

Etymology

''Spicara'' is a vernacular name for picarels, particularly ''S. flexuosa'' in Italy. This is presumed to derive from ''spica'', "a spike", or ''spicare'', meaning "in the form of or furnished with a spike", Rafinesque did not explain why he chose this name.

Species

There are currently eight recognized species in this genus: * ''

Spicara alta ''Spicara'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species in the genus are known as picarels. Taxonomy ''Spicara' ...

'' ( Osório, 1917) (Bigeye picarel) * ''

Spicara australis ''Spicara'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species in the genus are known as picarels. Taxonomy ''Spicara' ...

'' ( Regan, 1921) (Southern picarel) * ''

Spicara axillare ''Spicara axillare'', the windtoy, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, the seabreams and porgies. This species is found in the Western Indian Ocean and is endemic to South Africa. Taxonomy ''Spicara axillare'' ...

'' ( Boulenger, 1900) (Windtoy) * ''

Spicara flexuosum ''Spicara flexuosum'', is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, the seabreams and porgies. This species is found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Taxonomy ''Spicara flexu ...

'' (

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ult ...

, 1810) * ''

Spicara maena ''Spicara maena'', the blotched picarel, is a species of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The male grows to a maximum length of about , and the female reaches . This fi ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758) (Blotched picarel) * ''

Spicara martinicus ''Spicara'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species in the genus are known as picarels. Taxonomy ''Spicara' ...

'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, 1830) * '' Spicara melanurus'' Valenciennes, 1830) (Blackspot picarel) * '' Spicara nigricauda'' (

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, 1931) (Blacktail picarel) * ''

Spicara smaris ''Spicara smaris'', one of the picarels, is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, the seabreams and porgies. This species is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It grows to a maxi ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Picarel)

Characteristics

''Spicara'' picarels have oblong bodies which are deeper than the length of the head. They have a continuous dorsal fin with the bases of the soft rayed parts of both the dorsal and 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 ...

are enclosed in a scaly sheath. The largest species in the genus is ''S. axillaris'' with a maximum published

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 ...

of while with a maximum published total length of ''S. nigricauda'' is the smallest species.

Distribution

''Spicara'' picarels are found mainly in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Indian Ocean. There is one species ''S. martinicum'' which is known only from its

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

collected off the island of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1408619 Sparidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Spariform fish genera