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 ...
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 ...
dottyback
The dottybacks are a family, Pseudochromidae, of fishes which were formerly classified in the order Perciformes or considered ''incertae sedis'' percomorphs, but are now considered basal blenniiforms. Around 152 species belong to this family.
...
s, it consists of small species of coral-reef inhabiting fish which are distributed throughout 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 ...
.
Characteristics
Workers have established that this subfamily is
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
. They have a
pelvic fin
Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...
which has a single spine and three or four unbranched soft rays, their heads are covered in scales, most of the rays in their
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 ...
s are simple, they have teeth on the
palatine bone
In anatomy, the palatine bones (; derived from the Latin ''palatum'') are two irregular bones of the facial skeleton in many animal species, located above the uvula in the throat. Together with the maxilla, they comprise the hard palate.
Stru ...
; their
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 have 17–19 rays and the
lateral line
The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...
has one anterior-pored scale.
Genera
The following
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
are included in the subfamily Pseudoplesiopinae:
* ''
Amsichthys
The bugeye dottyback (''Amsichthys knighti''), also known as Knight's dottyback, is a species of ray-finned fish, the only species in the monospecific genus ''Amsichthys'', belonging to the subfamily Pseudoplesiopinae, of the family Pseudochromid ...
Chlidichthys
''Chlidichthys'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes from the western and central Indian Ocean, it is part of the subfamily Pseudoplesiopinae which in turn is a constituent subfamily of the dottyback family, the Pseudochromidae. Within the Pseudople ...
''
J.L.B. Smith
James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long ext ...
, 1953
* ''
Lubbockichthys
''Lubbockichthys'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the Indo-Pacific region which belongs to the subfamily Pseudoplesiopinae, part of the family Pseudochromidae, the dottybacks. The species in this genus have small cycloid scales throughout the ...
Pectinochromis
''Pectinochromis'' is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Pseudoplesiopinae in the family Pseudochromidae, the dottybacks. The only species in the genus is ''Pectinochromis lubbocki'', a small reef living dottyback from th ...
Pseudoplesiops
''Pseudoplesiops'' is a genus of dottyback fishes currently with ten described species. They are distributed in the south Pacific and in the Indian Ocean as far west as the Maldive Islands.
Species
*'' Pseudoplesiops annae'' (Weber, 1913) (Anna ...