Biology:Halfbanded angelfish

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Short description: Species of fish

Halfbanded angelfish
Genicanthus semicinctus.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Pomacanthidae
Genus: Genicanthus
Species:
G. semicinctus
Binomial name
Genicanthus semicinctus
(Waite, 1900)
Synonyms[2]

Holocanthus semicinctus Waite, 1900

The halfbanded angelfish (Genicanthus semicinctus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Description

Genicanthus semicinctus like the other angelfishes in the genus Genicanthus, shows sexual dichromatism, the males and females show differences in colour and pattern. The males are marked with thin close-set wavy black, vertical bars which run from the back to two-thirds down the flanks with the lower third of the body being yellowish-orange. They have a yellow dorsal fin and yellow lobes with long filaments on the caudal fin which has black spots. The chest also has black spots. The females are plain dark grey on the back with a whitish abdomen and have dark lobes to the caudal fin. Their fins have thin blue margins and there is a black blotch above the eye, this has a vivid blue margin.[3] The dorsal fin contains 15 spines and 15-16 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of 21 centimetres (8.3 in).[2]

Distribution

Genicanthus semicinctus is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Here it is found only around Lord Howe Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, and the New Zealand outlying islands of the Kermadec Islands.[1]

Habitat and biology

Genicanthus semicinctus is found at depths between 10 and 100 metres (33 and 328 ft).[1] it is found on the deep outer slopes of coral and rocky reefs. It normally occurs in small groups, harems of a male and as many as 4 females. This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite and if the male in a group disappears the dominant female will change into a male, this change takes a few weeks.[3]

Systematics

Genicanthus semicinctus was first formally described as Holocanthus semicinctus in 1900 by the British-born Australian ichthyologist Edgar Ravenswood Waite (1866–1928) with the type locality given as Lord Howe Island.[4] The specific name is a compound of semi meaning “half” and cinctus meaning “bands”.[5]

Utilisation

Genicanthus semicinctus is very rare in the aquarium trade.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pyle, R.; Myers, R.F. (2020). "Genicanthus semicinctus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T165866A177436288. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T165866A177436288.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/165866/177436288. Retrieved 20 February 2021. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Genicanthus semicinctus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bray, D.J. (2020). "Genicanthus semicinctus". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2504#summary. Retrieved 20 February 2021. 
  4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron; van der Laan, Richard, eds. "Species in the genus Genicanthus". California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?tbl=species&genus=Genicanthus. 
  5. "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. 21 July 2020. http://www.etymology.org/acanthuriformes1/. Retrieved 19 February 2021. 

Wikidata ☰ Q1959210 entry