Sargocentron

Sargocentron Temporal range: Early Eocene to Present[1]
Sargocentron spiniferum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Beryciformes
Family:	Holocentridae
Subfamily:	Holocentrinae
Genus:	Sargocentron Fowler, 1904

Sargocentron is a genus of squirrelfish found in tropical parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with the greatest species diversity near reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Being largely or entirely nocturnal, they have relatively large eyes. Red and silvery colours dominate. The preopercle spines (near the gill-opening) are venomous, and can give painful wounds. Most have a maximum length of 15-25 cm (6-10 in), but S. iota barely reaches 8 cm (3 in), and S. spiniferum can reach approximately 50 cm (20 in).

Species

There are currently 33 recognized species in this genus:^[2]

• Sargocentron bullisi (Woods, 1955) (deepwater squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron caudimaculatum (Rüppell, 1838) (silverspot squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron cornutum (Bleeker, 1853) (threespot squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron coruscum (Poey, 1860) (reef squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron diadema (Lacépède, 1802) (crown squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron dorsomaculatum (Shimizu & Yamakawa, 1979) (spotfin squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron ensifer (D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1903) (yellow-striped squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron hastatum (G. Cuvier, 1829) (red squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron hormion (J. E. Randall, 1998)
• Sargocentron inaequalis (J. E. Randall & Heemstra, 1985) (lattice squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron iota (J. E. Randall, 1998) (dwarf squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron ittodai (D. S. Jordan & Fowler, 1902) (samurai squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron lepros (G. R. Allen & N. J. Cross, 1983) (spiny squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron macrosquamis (Golani, 1984) (bigscale squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron marisrubri (J. E. Randall, Golani & Diamant, 1989)

Sargocentron spiniferum from the Red Sea

• Sargocentron megalops (J. E. Randall, 1998)
• Sargocentron melanospilos (Bleeker, 1858) (blackblotch squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron microstoma (Günther, 1859) (smallmouth squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron poco (Woods, 1965) (saddle squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron praslin (Lacépède, 1802) (dark-striped squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron punctatissimum (G. Cuvier, 1829) (speckled squirrelfish)

Sargocentron punctatissimum.

• Sargocentron rubrum (Forsskål, 1775) (redcoat)
• Sargocentron seychellense (J. L. B. Smith & M. M. Smith, 1963) (yellow-tipped squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron shimizui (J. E. Randall, 1998)
• Sargocentron spiniferum (Forsskål, 1775) (sabre squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron spinosissimum (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (North Pacific squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron suborbitalis (T. N. Gill, 1863) (tinsel squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron tiere (G. Cuvier, 1829) (blue-lined squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron tiereoides (Bleeker, 1853) (pink squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron vexillarium (Poey, 1860) (dusky squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron violaceum (Bleeker, 1853) (violet squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron wilhelmi (F. de Buen, 1963) (Wilhelm's squirrelfish)
• Sargocentron xantherythrum (D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1903) (Hawaiian squirrelfish)

Notes

1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: 560. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
2. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). Species of Sargocentron in FishBase. June 2013 version.

References

• Allen, G. 1999. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and south-east Asia. ISBN 0-7309-8363-3
• Debelius, H. 1993. Indian Ocean Tropical Fish Guide. ISBN 3-927991-01-5

External links

• Sargocentron at the Encyclopedia of Life