Prionotus

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Prionotus
Temporal range: Pliocene - recent, 3.6–0  Ma
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Prionotus alatus.jpg
Spiny searobin (P. alatus)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Triglidae
Subfamily: Prionotinae
Genus: Prionotus
Lacépède, 1801
Type species
Trigla evolans
Linnaeus, 1766 [1]
Species

See text

Synonyms [1]
  • Chriolax D.S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879
  • Colotrigla Gill, 1905
  • Dinichthys Kaup, 1873
  • ExolissusD.S. Jordan, 1923
  • FissalaGill, 1905
  • GurnardusD.S. Jordan & Evermann, 1898
  • Marubecula Whitley, 1950
  • MerulinusD.S. Jordan & Evermann, 1898
  • Ornichthys Swainson, 1839
  • TriscurrichthysWhitley, 1931

Prionotus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, one of two genera belonging to the subfamily Prionotinae, the searobins. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean, in the waters off both North and South America.

Contents

Taxonomy

Prionotus was first described as a genus in 1801 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède, Lacépède described it as a monotypic genus with Trigla evolans , described by Linnaeus in 1766, as its type species.The genus is one of 2 genera classified within the subfamily Prionotinae, the searobins, in the gurnard family Triglidae. [1] The genus name is a compound of prion, “saw”, and notus, “back”, as Lacépède saw three free dorsal spines when he was describing the type species P. evolans but these were probably the result of damage to the specimen. [2]

Species

Bean's Searobin (P. beanii) Prionotus beanii.jpg
Bean's Searobin (P. beanii)

There are currently 23 recognized species in this genus: [3]

P. murielae is based on a single holotype and in 2020 it was proposed that this was a juvenile of P. ophyras, [4] and this taxon is treated as a junior synonym of P. ophryas. [5]

Characteristics

Prionotus searobins have a large, nearly square head, Bonny head which bears a number of spines and ridges with a wide inter orbital space. The mouth is either terminal or slightly inferior with simple teeth on the jaws and on the roof of the mouth. There are 2 separate dorsal fins, the first with normally 10, sometimes 9 or 11, spines, although the very short rear spines are very difficult to discern. The second dorsal fin has 11 to 13 soft rays. The long pectoral fins extend beyond the middle of the base of the anal fin and contains, 13-14 rays within its membrane and 2-3 enlarged, rays at the bottom of the fin that are free from its membrane. Most of the body is covered in rough scales including the upper rear flap of the operculum over the spine with scales and the nape. [6] The largest species is the common sea robin (P. ruscarius) of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which has a maximum published total length of 30.5 cm (12.0 in), while the smallest is P. murielae with a maximum published total length of 6 cm (2.4 in). [3]

Distribution and habitat

Prionotus sea robins are found in the tropical and temperate waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean off both North and South America. [3] These benthic fishes occur in inshore waters, bays, and estuaries. [7] Fossils of Prionotus have been found in England and along the Atlantic Cast of the United States from Florida to New Jersey. [8]

Biology

Prionotus are able to create grunting vocalisations by vibrating the swim bladder with certain muscles, this sounds like the croaking of a frog and has is the origin of the alternative common name of gurnard, derived from a French word meaning, “to grunt”. These fishes are less active in the daylight hours and are mostly nocturnal, using their enlarged separate pectoral fin rays to walk along the substrate and detect prey buries in the sand or mud. These rays can manipulate objects and detect prey using chemoreception , The bony, square head can be used to excavate small prey items from the substrate and their rather catholic diet includes crustaceans, cephalopods, gastropods, bivalves, amphipods, eggs, other fish and seaweed, juveniles eat more copepods. Their sharp spines seem to deter most predators but they are preyed on by some sharks. [7]

When they are mating they are known to make a staccato call, different from their typical grunts. They spawn between late spring and early fall, with activity peaking in July and August. They are batch spawners, the females have a few ripe eggs at a time and these are fertilized externally. The pelagic eggs are yellow, and have a diameter of less than 1 millimeter. They take around 60 hours to hatch and there is no parental care. The hatchling larvae are between 2 and 3 mm (0.079 and 0.118 in) in length. The walking rays develop when the larvae reach a length of 150 mm (5.9 in) and they attain sexual maturity around 2 or 3 years old, and may live for up to 11 years, though they usually they only live around 8 years. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Triglidae Family of fishes

Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.

Peristediidae Family of fishes

Peristediidae, the armored sea robins or armoured gurnards, is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Platycephaloidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the deep water in the tropical and warm temperate of the world's oceans.

Tub gurnard Species of fish

The tub gurnard, also known as the sapphirine gurnard, tube-fish, tubfish or yellow gurnard, is a is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is exploited by commercial fisheries as a food fish.

<i>Bellator militaris</i> Species of fish

Bellator militaris, the horned sea robin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the sea robins. This fish is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Spiny red gurnard Species of fish

The spiny red gurnard is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. This species is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean where they occur at depths of from 25 to 615 metres. This species grows to a length of 40 centimetres (16 in) TL. This species is of commercial importance as a food fish.

<i>Bellator</i> (fish) Genus of fishes

Bellator is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, one of two genera belonging to the subfamily Prionotinae, the sea robins. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean, in the waters off both North and South America.

<i>Bellator egretta</i> Species of fish

Bellator egretta, the streamer searobin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the sea robins. This fish is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey gurnard</span> Species of fish

The grey gurnard is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea. It is caught as a food fish and is known for producing sounds. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Eutrigla.

<i>Lepidotrigla</i> Genus of fishes

Lepidotrigla is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. These gurnards are found in the Eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.

<i>Pterygotrigla</i> Genus of fishes

Pterygotrigla is a genus of genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins, one of two genera belonging to the subfamily Pterygotriglinae. These gurnards are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red gurnard</span> Species of fish

The red gurnard, also known as the East Atlantic red gurnard or soldier, is a benthic species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. This fish is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

Platycephaloidei Suborder of fish

Platycephaloidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes, part of the order Scorpaeniformes, and includes the flatheads, ghost flatheads and sea robins.

<i>Peristedion</i> Genus of fishes

Peristedion is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Peristediidae, the armoured gurnards or armored sea robins. These fishes are found in Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific ocean waters.

Prionotus evolans, the striped searobin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the sea robins. This fish is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Prionotinae

Prionotinae is a subfamily of demersal, marine ray-finned fishes, part of the family Triglidae. The fishes in this subfamily are called sea robins and are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, the other two Triglid subfamilies are called gurnards.

Pterygotriglinae

Pterygotriglinae is a subfamily of demersal, marine ray-finned fishes, part of the family Triglidae, the gurnards and searobins. These gurnards are found in the Indo-Pacific region.

<i>Pterygotrigla arabica</i> Species of fish

Pterygotrigla arabica is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. This fish is found in the northern Indian Ocean.

Pterygotrigla multiocellata, the antrorse spined gurnard, is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. This fish is found in the Indo-Pacific region where it has been recorded from Japan, Saipan, and the eastern and western tropical waters off Australia.

Triglinae

Triglinae is a subfamily of demersal, marine ray-finned fishes, part of the family Triglidae, the gurnards and searobins. These gurnards are found in all the tropical and temperate oceans of the world except for the Western Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackspotted gurnard</span> Species of fish

The blackspotted gurnard, also known as the half-spotted gurnard, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Prionotinae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (10 June 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 12): Suborder Triglioidei: Families Triglidae and Peristediidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Prionotus in FishBase . February 2022 version.
  4. ↑ Victor, B.C. & Ianniello, L. (2020). "Prionotus murielae Mowbray, 1928 is the juvenile of the Bandtail Searobin Prionotus ophryas (Teleostei: Scorpaeniformes: Triglidae)". Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation. 35: 76–85. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3962673.
  5. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Prionotus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Genus: Prionotus, Searobins". Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Stephanie Boyd (November 2021). "Sea Robins". Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Selden, R. William (1986). "The Sea-robin Prionotus (Teleostei: Scorpaeniformes) in the Pleistocene of New Jersey". The Mosasaur. 3: 161–167.
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