Ephippidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spadefishes and batfishes
Teira Batfish, Platax teira
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Ephippidae
Genera
Chaetodipterus Ephippus Parapsettus Platax Proteracanthus Rhinoprenes Tripterodon Zabidius See text for species

Ephippidae is the fish family containing the spadefishes. There are about eight genera with a total of 20 species, mostly marine. The most well-known species are probably those in the reef-dwelling genus Platax, the batfishes, which are kept as aquarium fish. They are spade-shaped, laterally compressed, and very symmetrical triangular dorsal and anal fins. They are shiny silver with areas of yellow and vertical brown or black banding. The eyes are often located in one of the vertical bands as a method of camouflage. Scuba divers sometimes mistake them for angelfish, which are similar in shape but not closely related. Other genera in the family are characterized by long, trailing, pointed dorsal and anal fins.

Some spadefishes are popular sport fishing catches. The Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber), for example, is an attractive black and white zebra-striped fish common just offshore in the southeastern United States and Caribbean. They are favorites because they put up a fight as they are reeled in. Spadefish are generally considered to be an overfished group. Most of the individuals caught are small and young and are nowhere near the maximum size recorded for their species.

A recent study in Current Biology (vol 16, p. 2434) has suggested that the batfish Platus pinnatus may play the role of a critical functional group in the Great Barrier Reef by eating seaweed that other herbivorous fish such as parrotfish and surgeonfish will not touch. Overgrowth of seaweed among corals occurs as a result of overfishing of large fish species and inhibits the ability of coral to support life.

[edit] Species

• Genus Chaetodipterus
  • Atlantic spadefish, Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782).
  • West African spadefish, Chaetodipterus lippei Steindachner, 1895.
  • Pacific spadefish, Chaetodipterus zonatus (Girard, 1858).
• Genus Ephippus
  • East Atlantic African spadefish, Ephippus goreensis Cuvier, 1831.
  • Orbfish, Ephippus orbis (Bloch, 1787).
• Genus Parapsettus
  • Panama spadefish, Parapsettus panamensis (Steindachner, 1875).
• Genus Platax
  • Humpback batfish, Platax batavianus Cuvier, 1831.
  • Golden spadefish, Platax boersii Bleeker, 1852.
  • Orbicular batfish, Platax orbicularis (Forsskål, 1775).
    

    

    Orbicular batfish, Platax orbicularis
  • Dusky batfish, Platax pinnatus (Linnaeus, 1758).
  • Tiera batfish, Platax teira (Forsskål, 1775).
• Genus Proteracanthus
  • Proteracanthus sarissophorus (Cantor, 1849).
• Genus Rhinoprenes
  • Threadfin scat, Rhinoprenes pentanemus Munro, 1964.
• Genus Tripterodon
  • African spadefish, Tripterodon orbis (Bloch, 1787).
• Genus Zabidius
  • Ninespine batfish, Zabidius novemaculeatus (McCulloch, 1916).

[edit] Picture Gallery

Swarm of Batfish (Ko Tao, Thailand)

[edit] References

• "Ephippidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.

Batfish may come to the Great Barrier Reef's rescue [1]