Rypticus
| Rypticus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Rypticus bistrispinus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Serranidae |
| Genus: | Rypticus Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1829 |
| Species | |
|
10, see text | |
Rypticus is a genus of fish in the family Serranidae, the sea basses and groupers. It is one of several genera of soapfishes. These fish live in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans in tropical and warmer temperate zones.[1]
Description
The genus can be distinguished from the rest of the Serranidae by a few morphological details, such as its lack of anal fin spines. It also has only 2 to 4 dorsal fin spines; other serranids have more. The mouth is large and the lower jaw protrudes. The coloration varies, but there is usually a brown stripe from the mouth to the front of the dorsal fin. Several species are distinctly spotted. R. bistrispinus has red-brown spots, R. bornoi and R. subbifrenatus have dark brown, rounded spots, R. maculatus has white spots, R. bicolor and R. courtenayi have many rounded, pale cream spots, and R. nigripinnis has ocellated (eye-like) spots, while R. randalli is more blotchy than spotted.[1]
Biology
Like many other soapfishes, Rysticus secrete large amounts of toxic mucus from their skin in response to stress. The toxin, grammistin, repels predators.[1]
Rypticus are nocturnal, feeding at night on crustaceans, molluscs, and fish.[1]
These fish are protogynous hermaphrodites, with females able to change sex to male. This is not uncommon among the serranids. Rypticus is unique, though, in that a fish has both male and female reproductive tissues which are separate on the cellular level but are wrapped around each other in the gonad.[1]
Ecology
Most species live around islands and along the continental shelves. R. nigripinnis and R. randalli can tolerate lower salinities than many serranids, and they are known to inhabit estuaries.[1]
Taxonomy
There are 10 known species in this genus.[2][3] The latest, R. carpenteri, was described in 2012.[4]
Species include:
- Rypticus bicolor - mottled soapfish
- Rypticus bistrispinus - freckled soapfish
- Rypticus bornoi - largespotted soapfish
- Rypticus carpenteri - slope soapfish
- Rypticus courtenayi - Socorran soapfish
- Rypticus maculatus - whitespotted soapfish
- Rypticus nigripinnis - blackfin soapfish, twice-spotted soapfish
- Rypticus randalli - plain soapfish
- Rypticus saponaceus - greater soapfish, three-spined soapfish, soapy jack
- Rypticus subbifrenatus - spotted soapfish
Conservation
R. courtenayi has the narrowest distribution, being endemic to the Revillagigedo Islands of Mexico. Its range is only about 25 square kilometers. It is listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Guimarães, R. Z. P. (1999). Revision, phylogeny and comments on biogeography of soapfishes of the genus Rypticus (Teleostei: Serranidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 65(2) 337-79.
- ↑ Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. Rypticus species. FishBase. 2011.
- ↑ Bailly, N. (2013). Rypticus Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1829. In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Accessed 9 June 2013.
- ↑ Baldwin, C. C. and L. A. Weigt. (2012). A new species of soapfish (Teleostei: Serranidae: Rypticus), with redescription of R. subbifrenatus and comments on the use of DNA barcoding in systematic studies. Copeia 2012(1) 23-36.
- ↑ Smith-Vaniz, B., et al. 2010. Rypticus courtenayi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 9 June 2013.