Latris (fish) explained

Latris is a genus of marine ray finned fish belonging to the family Latridae, the trumpeters. They are found in the southern oceans.

Taxonomy

Latris was first formally described in 1839 by the Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer Sir John Richardson with the type species being Latris hecateia, this being the only species in the genus. Richardson’s name was later shown to be a synonym of Johann Reinhold Forster’s Cichla lineata. The name of the genus, Latris, means “slave” or “servant”, Richardson did not explain why he chose this name.[1]

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus:

Characteristics

Latris has two species which, although molecular analyses suggest that they are sister species, share few obvious derived morphological characteristics which separate them from other Latrid genera. Before the discovery of Latris pacifica it was thought that the presence of vomerine teeth was a character separating the genus from the others in the family but L. pacifica does share this characteristic. Meristic counts are of doubtful usefulness but these fishes have a dorsal fin with 17-20 spines and 33-44 soft rays, while the anal fin has 26-37 soft rays. They also have 37-43 vertebrae.[2] [3] The maximum total lengths are for L. pacifica and for L. lineata.

Distribution and habitat

Latris species are found in the temperate southern oceans. Latris lineata has been confirmed to occur in the southern Indian Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean and the Southern Atlantic.[4] [5] L. pacifica have only been recorded from the Foundation Seamounts in the South Pacific Ocean.[2] They are associated with rocky reef habitats.

Fisheries

Latris trumpeters are quarry for commercial fisheries from New Zealand while in other parts of its range the striped trumpeter is a desirable target for recreational fisheries. Their flesh is considered to be highly palatable.[2] [6] [7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Order Centrarchiformes: Families Centrarchidae, Elassomatidae, Eoplosidae, Sinipercidae, Aplodactylidae, Cheilodactylidae, Chironemidae, Cirrhitidae, Latridae, Percichthydiae, Dichistitidae, Girellidae, Kuhliidae, Kyphosidae, Oplegnathidae, Terapontidae, Microcanthidae, and Scorpididae . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf . Kenneth J. Lazara . amp . 25 February 2021 . 11 August 2021 . Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
  2. Clive D. Roberts . 2003 . A new species of trumpeter (Teleostei; Percomorpha; Latridae) from the central South Pacific Ocean, with a taxonomic review of the striped trumpeter Latris lineata . 10.1080/03014223.2003.9517756 . Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand . 33 . 4 . 731–754. free .
  3. P. J. Smith . P. M. Gaffney . C. D. Roberts . amp . 2003 . Phylogenetic relationships of the silver trumpeter Latris pacifica (Teleostei, Percomorpha, Latridae) based on allozymes and mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences . Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand . 33 . 4 . 755–767 . 10.1080/03014223.2003.9517757. free .
  4. Waessle, J.A. . Milessi, Andrés . amp . 2013 . First record of Latris lineata (Forster, 1801) in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean . Zootaxa . 3646 . 097–099 . 10.11646/zootaxa.3646.1.10.
  5. Pablo Reyes . Verena Häussermann . Günter Försterra . amp . 2013 . New Zealand trumpeter re-discovered in Patagonian fjords after more than 100 years (Perciformes, Latridae) . Spixiana . 39 . 1 . 14 .
  6. Web site: Trumpeter Latris lineata . 11 August 2021 . Talley's.
  7. Web site: Bray, D.J. . 2019 . Latris lineata . Fishes of Australia . 11 August 2021 . Museums Victoria.