The Chinamanfish (''Symphorus nematophorus''), Chinaman snapper, galloper or thread-finned sea perch, is species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is found in the Western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

The Chinamanfish was first formally described in 1860 by the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

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

as ''Mesoprion nematophorus'' with the type locality given as Badjoa on Sulawesi. the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther , also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3October 18301February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile tax ...

''Symphorus'' in 1872. The genus ''Symphorus'' is one of two genera 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 ...

Paradicichthyinae Paradicichthyinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, one of four subfamilies classified within the Family (biology), family Lutjanidae, the snappers. Taxonomy Paradicichthyinae was created as a subfamily of the Lutjanidae in 1930 by the ...

of the snapper family Lutjanidae. The genus name ''Symphorus'' was not explained by Günther but it may be a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

of ''sym'', meaning “together with” and ''phorus'' meaning “bearer”, a possible a reference to its undivided

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

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 ...

''nematophorus'' is also a compound, this time having “nemato” meaning “thread” prefixing ''phorus'', a reference to the projection of at least one the anterior rays of the dorsal fins in to filaments in the younger specimens.

Description

The Chinamanfish has a body which is deep and laterally compressed, with a steep dorsal profile of the head. There is a deep slit between the eyes and the nostrils. The mouth extends as far back as the centre of the eye. There is no incision or protuberance on the preoperculum. The jaws have thin bands of teeth with the outer band having enlarged teeth, these are canione-like at the front of the upper jaw. There is no patch of vomerine teeth and there is a patch of granular teeth on the tongue. The dorsal fin has 10 spine and 15-16 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 ...

contains 3 spines and 9 soft rays. At least one of the anterior dorsal fin rays is projected into a long filamentous thread in juveniles and sub-adults. 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 ...

s are long, extending as far as the level of the anus and contain 16 fin rays. 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 ...

emarginate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...

. This species attains a maximum

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 , although of is more typical. and a maximum published weight of. The overall colour of this snapper is greyish-brown to reddish frequently broken by thick irregular light and dark vertical bars on the flanks. The juveniles are light orange to brownish, with irregular bluish lines and spots on the head and flanks, and more numerous long filamentous dorsal-fin rays than the adults.

Distribution and habitat

The Chinamanfish is a widely distributed species in the West Pacific Ocean from the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

and western Thailand east to Fiji and Tonga and from northern Australia 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 ...

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 ...

. It is found at depths of less than . It is found on coastal reefs.

Biology

The Chinamanfish is typically encountered as solitary fishes but a breeding aggregation has been recorded off Palau. It is mainly piscivorous. The maximum longevity of this species is 36 years.

Fisheries

The Chinamanfish is taken mostly with handlines and also 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 ...

. Its flesh is considered to be excellent eating, however in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and Vanuatu it is considered dangerous, and Australia bans its sale, due to the risk of

ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating tropical reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, numbness ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15709184 Chinamanfish Fish described in 1860