Choerodon

Choerodon
Harlequin tuskfish (C. fasciatus)
Blue-spotted tuskfish ( C. cauteroma )
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Labriformes
Family:	Labridae
Tribe:	Hypsigenyini
Genus:	Choerodon Bleeker, 1849
Type species
Labrus macrodontus Lacépède, 1801 [1]
Synonyms [2]
List AspiurochilusFowler, 1956 ChoerodonoidesKamohara, 1958 ChoeropsRüppell, 1852 CossyphodesBleeker, 1860 HypsigenysGünther, 1861 LienardellaFowler & B. A. Bean, 1928 MacrochoerodonFowler & B. A. Bean, 1928 PeaolopesiaJ. L. B. Smith, 1949 TorresiaCastelnau, 1875]

Choerodon is a genus of wrasses native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. ^[3] They originated in the Miocene, when the Australian and Eurasian Plates collided. ^[4] They are commonly referred to as tuskfish, because most species have sharp tusk-like teeth.

Taxonomy

The genus Choerodon is most closely related to the odacine wrasses. Both groups are part of the wrasse tribe Hypsigenyini. Choerodon is split into 6 subgenera. ^[5] Molecular phylogenetic analysis has so far demonstrated the monophyly of the subgenera, although not all species in the genus have been evaluated. ^[6]

Choerodon typus was traditionally placed within its own genus Xiphocheilus, but both morphological and molecular analyses now place it within Choerodon, with Xiphocheilus becoming its subgenus name instead. ^{[5] [6]}

Potential tool use in tuskfishes

Orange-dotted, blue, graphic, and blackspot tuskfish have been recorded using large rocks or hard coral as "anvils", upon which they smash open hard-shelled prey items. All four species belong to the subgenus Choerodon, and can remember to use a particular rock or coral repeatedly for this purpose. This behaviour usually involves invertebrate prey such as clams and sea urchins, but on one occasion, a blue tuskfish was filmed smashing a young green sea turtle on an anvil. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} Anvil use is also documented in several other wrasse genera. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Species

The 27 currently recognized species in this genus are: ^{[3] [5] [14] [15]}

Subgenus	Species	Common name	Image
Aspiurochilus	Choerodon azurio (D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1901)	Azurio tuskfish
	Choerodon cypselurus Gomon, 2017	swallowtail tuskfish [5]
	Choerodon monostigma J. D. Ogilby, 1910	dark-spot tuskfish
	Choerodon robustus (Günther, 1862)	robust tuskfish
	Choerodon zamboangae (Seale & B. A. Bean, 1907)	purple eyebrowed tuskfish
Choerodon	Choerodon anchorago (Bloch, 1791)	orange-dotted tuskfish
	Choerodon cauteroma M. F. Gomon & G. R. Allen, 1987	bluespotted tuskfish
	Choerodon cephalotes (Castelnau, 1875)	purple tuskfish
	Choerodon cyanodus (J. Richardson, 1843)	blue tuskfish
	Choerodon graphicus (de Vis, 1885)	graphic tuskfish
	Choerodon oligacanthus (Bleeker, 1851)	white-patch tuskfish
	Choerodon rubescens (Günther, 1862)	baldchin groper
	Choerodon schoenleinii (Valenciennes, 1839)	blackspot tuskfish
	Choerodon venustus (de Vis, 1884)	Venus tuskfish
Lienardella	Choerodon fasciatus (Günther, 1867)	harlequin tuskfish
Lutjanilabrus	Choerodon vitta J. D. Ogilby, 1910	redstripe tuskfish
Peaolopseia	Choerodon albofasciatus Gomon, 2017 [5]
	Choerodon aurulentus Gomon, 2017	gilded tuskfish
	Choerodon frenatus J. D. Ogilby, 1910	bridled tuskfish
	Choerodon gomoni G. R. Allen & J. E. Randall, 2002	Gomon's tuskfish
	Choerodon gymnogenys (Günther, 1867)
	Choerodon jordani (Snyder, 1908)	Jordan's tuskfish
	Choerodon margaritiferus Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1928	pearly tuskfish
	Choerodon skaiopygmaeus Gomon, 2017 [5]
	Choerodon sugillatum M. F. Gomon, 1987	wedge-tailed tuskfish
	Choerodon zosterophorus (Bleeker, 1868)	Zoster wrasse
Xiphocheilus	Choerodon typus Bleeker, 1856	blue-banded wrasse

References

1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Choerodon". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 31 December 2019.
2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Labridae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 31 December 2019.
3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Choerodon". FishBase . August 2013 version.
4. Puckridge, Melody; Last, Peter R.; Andreakis, Nikos (2015-03-01). "The role of peripheral endemism and habitat associations in the evolution of the Indo-West Pacific tuskfishes (Labridae: Choerodon)" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 84: 64–72. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.007. ISSN   1055-7903.
5. Museums Victoria; Martin F., Martin F. (2017-08-28). "A review of the tuskfishes, genus Choerodon (Labridae, Perciformes), with descriptions of three new species". Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 76: 1–111. doi: 10.24199/j.mmv.2017.76.01 .
6. Hughes, Lily C; Nash, Chloe M; White, William T; Westneat, Mark W (2023-05-01). "Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae)". Systematic Biology. 72 (3): 530–543. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syac072. ISSN   1063-5157.
7. Pryor, Kimberley Jane; Milton, Ashley Monique (2023). "Tool use involving a different prey type, microhabitat and location, and long-term anvil use, by the graphic tuskfish Choerodon graphicus (De Vis 1885)" . Marine Ecology. 44 (6): e12768. doi:10.1111/maec.12768. ISSN   1439-0485.
8. Jones, A. M.; Brown, C.; Gardner, S. (2011-09-01). "Tool use in the tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii?". Coral Reefs. 30 (3): 865–865. doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0790-y. ISSN   1432-0975.
9. Harborne, A. R.; Tholan, B. A. (2016-09-01). "Tool use by Choerodon cyanodus when handling vertebrate prey". Coral Reefs. 35 (3): 1069–1069. doi:10.1007/s00338-016-1448-6. ISSN   1432-0975.
10. Nature, Research Communities by Springer (2017-10-31). "Tools and tails on Blue Planet II". Research Communities by Springer Nature. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
11. Bernardi, G. (2012-03-01). "The use of tools by wrasses (Labridae)". Coral Reefs. 31 (1): 39–39. doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0823-6. ISSN   1432-0975.
12. Jaishankar, Siddhi; Nair, Radhika; Alcoverro, Teresa; Arthur, Rohan (2024-04-01). "Anvil use by three wrasse species: Halichoeres hortulanus, Thalassoma jansenii, and Thalassoma lunare" . Coral Reefs. 43 (2): 483–487. doi:10.1007/s00338-024-02467-y. ISSN   1432-0975.
13. Pryor, Kimberley Jane (2022). "Tool use by the orange wrasse Pseudolabrus luculentus and doubleheader Coris bulbifrons" . Marine Ecology. 43 (6): e12727. doi:10.1111/maec.12727. ISSN   1439-0485.
14. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order LABRIFORMES: Family LABRIDAE (a-h)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
15. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order LABRIFORMES: Family LABRIDAE (a-h)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 27 February 2023.