SUEZICHTHYS DEVISI - (WHITLEY, 1941)
Picture courtesy of: Gloup Noumea
Australian rainbow wrasse, Australian slender-wrasse, De Vis' rainbow-fish,
Étymologie
Suezichthys : de Suez, la ville d'Egypte + du Grec, ikhthus = poisson. En 1957, le professeur James Leonard Brierley SMITH (1897 - 1968) un ichtyologiste Sud-Africain, célèbre pour avoir été le premier à identifier en 1939 un poisson pêché le 22 décembre 1938 comme étant un cœlacanthe (Latimeria chalumnae) proposa le nom de Suezia pour décrire le nouveau genre du poisson : Labrichthys caudovittatus (Steindachner, 1898) - Localité type : Marché au poisson de Suez, As-Suways, gouvernorat de Suez, Golf de Suez, Mer Rouge. Malheureusement le genre Suezia (Gurney, 1927) était déjà utilisé pour décrire des crustacés (remplacé depuis par le genre Ridgewayia (Thompson & Scott, 1903)). En 1958, Gilbert Percy Whitley un ichtyologiste australien s'en aperçu. Le professeur JLB SMITH proposa alors de remplacer le genre Suezia par Suezichthys.
devisi : en l'honneur de Charles Walter De Vis (Birmingham, 9 mai 1829 - Brisbane 30 avril 1915) qui décrivit de nombreux poissons perroquets dans le Queensland. Né Devis, il adopte la graphie "De Vis" vers 1882. Zoologiste, ornithologue et ecclésiastique anglais. Il renonce rapidement à ses fonctions ecclésiastiques pour se consacrer aux sciences, d'abord en Angleterre puis en Australie.
Description originale : Guntheria devisi Whitley, 1941 - Localité type : à proximité de l'île Frazer (24°52'S, 152°48'E), Queensland, Australie, profondeur 15 fathoms (Environs 25 - 30 m - Le fathom est une unité anglaise impériale de profondeur. Elle est l'équivalent anglo-saxon de la brasse. Sa longueur exacte varie selon le contexte (fathom international, fathom de la marine de guerre britannique, fathoms utilisés dans la marine marchande ou sur les flottes de pêche).
Synonymes
Guentheria devisi (Whitley, 1941)
Guntheria devisi (Whitley, 1941)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10. Lateral line scales: 26. Head mostly naked; A few scales on cheeks and opercles. Curved canines in jaws not flaring outward (2 in upper, 4 in lower) anteriorly. Lateral teeth uniserial, as a ridge. Posterior canine present. Lips normal. Preopercular margin entire. Form rather elongate, compressed. Depth about 4.0 in standard length. Thoracic scales slightly smaller than those of body. Lateral line continuous, bent behind. No scaly sheaths to dorsal and anal fins. Dorsal spines not elevated, their membranes slightly penicillated, the front spines not divergent. First ventral ray filamentous. Caudal convex. Max. length: 14.0 cm TL. Depth range: 5 - 30 m.
Color
Females (initial phase) are pinkish above, whitish below, with a reddish-brown stripe along the upper side from the snout through the eye to a small dark spot on the tailbase, and a short diagonal bluish-black stripe above the pectoral fin.
Males (terminal phase) have a bluish stripe on the dorsal and anal fins, and an orange ‘V-shape’ band with a blue margin in the caudal fin.
Etymology
Suezichthys: from Suez, the Egyptian town + from Greek ikhthus = Fish. In Ichthyological Bulletin No.7, 1957, of this Department, p. 106, the new genus Suezia was proposed, the genotype Labrichthys caudovittatus (Steindachner, 1898) - Type locality: Suez fish market, As-Suways, Suez Governorate, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea. As Mr Gilbert Percy Whitley ((9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) an British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years) has kindly pointed out, suezia (Gurney, 1927) was used for a genus in Crustacea, therefore Suezichthys is proposed in replacement.
devisi: named after Charles Walter de Vis ((Birmingham, England, 9 May 1829 - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 30 April 1915), known as Devis before about 1882, was an English zoologist, ornithologist, herpetologist, and botanist), who described many Queensland parrot fishes many years ago.
Original description: Guntheria devisi Whitley, 1941 - Type locality: Off Frazer Island, 24°52'S, 152°48'E, Queensland, Australia, depth: 15 fathoms (25-30 m). Agassiz Trawl, 15 minutes; 14/9/1938. M.V. "Warreen".
Distribution
Western South Pacific. eastern Australia, southern Great Barrier Reef to Jervis Bay (New South Wales), southern part of New Caledonia at Noumea.
Biology
Occurs inshore. Found on silty sand or muddy substrates in harbours and estuaries and also deeper reefs and sand and rubble bottoms.
Females (initial phase) are pinkish above, whitish below, with a reddish-brown stripe along the upper side from the snout through the eye to a small dark spot on the tailbase, and a short diagonal bluish-black stripe above the pectoral fin.
Males (terminal phase) have a bluish stripe on the dorsal and anal fins, and an orange ‘V-shape’ band with a blue margin in the caudal fin.
Etymology
Suezichthys: from Suez, the Egyptian town + from Greek ikhthus = Fish. In Ichthyological Bulletin No.7, 1957, of this Department, p. 106, the new genus Suezia was proposed, the genotype Labrichthys caudovittatus (Steindachner, 1898) - Type locality: Suez fish market, As-Suways, Suez Governorate, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea. As Mr Gilbert Percy Whitley ((9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) an British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years) has kindly pointed out, suezia (Gurney, 1927) was used for a genus in Crustacea, therefore Suezichthys is proposed in replacement.
devisi: named after Charles Walter de Vis ((Birmingham, England, 9 May 1829 - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 30 April 1915), known as Devis before about 1882, was an English zoologist, ornithologist, herpetologist, and botanist), who described many Queensland parrot fishes many years ago.
Original description: Guntheria devisi Whitley, 1941 - Type locality: Off Frazer Island, 24°52'S, 152°48'E, Queensland, Australia, depth: 15 fathoms (25-30 m). Agassiz Trawl, 15 minutes; 14/9/1938. M.V. "Warreen".
Distribution
Western South Pacific. eastern Australia, southern Great Barrier Reef to Jervis Bay (New South Wales), southern part of New Caledonia at Noumea.
Biology
Occurs inshore. Found on silty sand or muddy substrates in harbours and estuaries and also deeper reefs and sand and rubble bottoms.
Similar species
Thalassoma lutescens (Lay & Bennett, 1839) - Reported from New Caledonia. Link to the species (here) - Juvenile form are similar.
Thalassoma lutescens (Lay & Bennett, 1839) - Reported from New Caledonia. Link to the species (here) - Juvenile form are similar.
Suezichthys gracilis (Steindachner & Döderlein, 1887) - Reported from New Caledonia. DNA analysis should be carried out to verify the biology of these two species.
Last update: 5, May 2023