LETHRINUS ATKINSONI - (SEALE, 1910)
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Acanthuriformes (Order) > Lethrinidae (Family) > Lethrininae (Subfamily) > Lethrinus (Genus)
Bec de cane du Pacifique, Bossu doré, Petit bec de cane, Pacific yellowtail emperor, Reticulated Emperor, Yellow-tailed emperor, Tricky snapper, Yellow morwong, Tuamotu emperor, Iso-fuefuki, イソフエフキ, 龙尖, 太平洋裸颊鲷,
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8; Pectoral fin rays: 13, inner base of pectoral fin scaled; Body relatively deep, depth: 2.7-2.9 in SL; Dorsal scale rows: 4.5; Ventral scale rows: 14-15; Maxillary serrations: 3-6 (rarely: 6) at 18-21 mm, 2-5 at 22-30 mm, absent at greater than 35 mm; Cheek scales absent at greater than 29 mm; At 18-115 mm dorsal spine 4 or 5 the longest; Molars present on lateral part of jaws. Max. length: 50.0 cm TL, common length: 32.5 cm TL. Max. reported age: 24 years. Depth range: 2 - 30 m, usually: 2 - 18 m.
Color
Body silvery to olive-brown with yellow around eye and brad diffuse yellow area often present along middle of side. Caudal fin yellow.
Etymology
Lethrinus: from Greek, lethrinia, a fish pertaining to genus Pagellus (Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1758)), a Mediterranean fish looking like Lethrinidae family.
atkinsoni: in honnor of William Stephen Atkinson (September 1820 – 15 January 1876, Rome) a British lepidopterist who worked for much of his life in India.
Original description: Lethrinus atkinsoni Seale, 1910 - Type locality: Balabac Island, Philippines.
Bec de cane du Pacifique, Bossu doré, Petit bec de cane, Pacific yellowtail emperor, Reticulated Emperor, Yellow-tailed emperor, Tricky snapper, Yellow morwong, Tuamotu emperor, Iso-fuefuki, イソフエフキ, 龙尖, 太平洋裸颊鲷,
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8; Pectoral fin rays: 13, inner base of pectoral fin scaled; Body relatively deep, depth: 2.7-2.9 in SL; Dorsal scale rows: 4.5; Ventral scale rows: 14-15; Maxillary serrations: 3-6 (rarely: 6) at 18-21 mm, 2-5 at 22-30 mm, absent at greater than 35 mm; Cheek scales absent at greater than 29 mm; At 18-115 mm dorsal spine 4 or 5 the longest; Molars present on lateral part of jaws. Max. length: 50.0 cm TL, common length: 32.5 cm TL. Max. reported age: 24 years. Depth range: 2 - 30 m, usually: 2 - 18 m.
Color
Body silvery to olive-brown with yellow around eye and brad diffuse yellow area often present along middle of side. Caudal fin yellow.
Etymology
Lethrinus: from Greek, lethrinia, a fish pertaining to genus Pagellus (Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1758)), a Mediterranean fish looking like Lethrinidae family.
atkinsoni: in honnor of William Stephen Atkinson (September 1820 – 15 January 1876, Rome) a British lepidopterist who worked for much of his life in India.
Original description: Lethrinus atkinsoni Seale, 1910 - Type locality: Balabac Island, Philippines.
Distribution
Eastern Indian Ocean, western Pacific: Myanmar and Indonesia east to Mariana Islands and Cook Islands, north to southern Sea of Japan and Kyushu (Japan), south to northern Australia and New Caledonia.
Eastern Indian Ocean, western Pacific: Myanmar and Indonesia east to Mariana Islands and Cook Islands, north to southern Sea of Japan and Kyushu (Japan), south to northern Australia and New Caledonia.
Biology
Inhabits seagrass beds and sandy areas of lagoons and outer reef slopes. Found singly or in schools. Feeds mainly on crustaceans, mollusks, and fish. Marketed fresh. Gonochorism is inferred for this species as sizes of males and females overlapped and male gonad morphology is typical of secondarily derived testes. Juvenile hermaphroditism is exhibited by this species.
Similar species
Lethrinus laticaudis (Alleyne & Macleay, 1877) - Reported from New Caledonia. Head brown or yellow with blue dots on cheeks and short blue stripes radiating in front and behind the eye, sometimes a number of blue cross stripes between the eyes.
Inhabits seagrass beds and sandy areas of lagoons and outer reef slopes. Found singly or in schools. Feeds mainly on crustaceans, mollusks, and fish. Marketed fresh. Gonochorism is inferred for this species as sizes of males and females overlapped and male gonad morphology is typical of secondarily derived testes. Juvenile hermaphroditism is exhibited by this species.
Similar species
Lethrinus laticaudis (Alleyne & Macleay, 1877) - Reported from New Caledonia. Head brown or yellow with blue dots on cheeks and short blue stripes radiating in front and behind the eye, sometimes a number of blue cross stripes between the eyes.
Lethrinus mahsena (Fabricius, 1775) - Reported from Red Sea; western Indian Ocean: East Africa, Persian Gulf, Socotra (Yemen), Seychelles, Aldabra (Seychelles) Madagascar, Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues), Maldives, Chagos Archipelago and Sri Lanka.
Lethrinus nebulosus (Forsskål, 1775) - Reported from New Caledonia. Link to the species (here).
Last update: 15, February 2023