''Zebrias'' 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 ...

in the family

Soleidae The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes. It includes saltwater and brackish water species in the East Atlantic, Indian Ocean, West and Central Pacific Ocean, and the mediterranean sea. Freshwater species are found in Africa, souther ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Zebrias'' was created in 1900 by

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

and

John Otterbein Snyder John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University. History As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...

. It was named after the fish in its genus' stripes, which resemble that of a

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

's. The genus has been around for many years, but most research has been ignored until the 19th century.

Species

The 16 currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Zebrias altipinnis'' ( Alcock, 1890) * '' Zebrias callizona'' ( Regan, 1903) * '' Zebrias cancellatus'' ( McCulloch, 1916) (harrowed sole) * '' Zebrias captivus'' J. E. Randall, 1995 (convict zebra sole) * '' Zebrias craticulus'' (McCulloch, 1916) (Wickerwork sole) * '' Zebrias crossolepis'' P. S. Cheng & Y. W. Chang, 1965 * '' Zebrias japonicus'' ( Bleeker, 1860) * '' Zebrias keralensis'' Joglekar, 1976 * '' Zebrias lucapensis'' Seigel & Adamson, 1985 * '' Zebrias maculosus'' Oommen, 1977 * '' Zebrias munroi'' ( Whitley, 1966) * '' Zebrias penescalaris'' M. F. Gomon, 1987 (duskybanded sole) * '' Zebrias quagga'' ( Kaup, 1858) (fringefin zebra sole) * '' Zebrias scalaris'' M. F. Gomon, 1987 (many-band sole) * '' Zebrias zebra'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter *Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter *Alfred Bloch ( ...

, 1787) (zebra sole) * '' Zebrias zebrinus'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch patrician, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob ...

& Schlegel, 1846) ;''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' * '' Zebrias annandalei''

Talwar The talwar (), also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent. Etymology and classification The word ''talwar'' originated from the Sanskrit Language, Sanskrit word ''taravāri'' () which means ...

& Chakrapany, 1967 ;Synonyms * ''Zebrias fasciatus'' ( Basilewsky, 1855); valid as ''Zebrias zebrinus'' * ''Zebrias regani''; valid as '' Pseudaesopia regani'' (South African zebra sole) * ''Zebrias synapturoides''; valid as '' Pseudaesopia synapturoides'' (Indian zebra sole)

Characteristics

Both eyes are located on the top of the fish along with their coloured bands while a

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 ...

is located on the bottom. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and

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 ...

s merge in to become 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 ...

which is noticeable by its yellow marks. The fish is oval-like in shape and most are seen to be in length, but can reach up to . Some members of this genus are toxic, which is a quality that some have accumulated during evolution to enhance feeding.

Distribution

Species in the genus ''Zebrias'' are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

and found in saltwater and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

environments. They often live close to the coast in shallow waters ranging from in depth. They are most commonly found in sandy areas or near seagrasses where they can blend into their environment most efficiently. They can be found in tropical environments where they are native to the coastal waters in the

Indo-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 ...

Behavior

Like other flatfish, fish in the genus ''Zebrias'' avoid predators based by hiding and camouflaging. To move, they undulate their dorsal and anal fins to crawl along the ocean floor. Their flat bodies and colour allow them to blend into the sea floor to match the texture of the sea floor. They may also bury themselves under the sediment if a predator is near and stay completely still making them almost completely invisible.

Reproduction and development

These species are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

as they shed eggs directly into the water column. They reproduce by external fertilization in which the sperm fertilizes an egg outside of the organism. Species in ''Zebrias'' begin their life as bilaterally symmetrical larvae that swim up-right with an eye on both sides of the head. When transitioning into juvenile fish they metamorphose asymmetrically causing a dorsoventrally flat adult.

Feeding

Zebrias feed by swimming along the ocean floor searching for food. Their flatted bodies help with scanning food from the sea floor. Their eyes are located on the top allowing them to see food from above. They are carnivores that feed mainly on polychaete worms,

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, small crustaceans, and other small benthic organisms. They rely mostly on their visual cues to detect predators and catch prey. Often, their yellow tail is positioned vertically, which is thought to act as a lure to prey on organisms.

Ecology

Fish in this genus maintain a balanced number of species. However, they are a part of the

, in which

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

in Europe has caused many genera of sole fish to become endangered with declining populations.

Human uses

Fisheries around the world catch ''Zebrias'', which are marketed frozen, fresh, and dried-salted.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1397432 Soleidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by John Otterbein Snyder Taxa named by David Starr Jordan