Lutjaninae Explained

Lutjaninae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, one of four subfamilies classified within the family Lutjanidae, the snappers.

Genera

The subfamily Lutjaninae contains 6 genera and 76 species:^[1]

• genus Hoplopagrus Gill, 1861
• genus Lutjanus Bloch, 1790
• genus Macolor Bleeker, 1860
• genus Ocyurus Gill, 1862
• genus Pinjalo Bleeker, 1873
• genus Rhomboplites Gill, 1862

A taxonomic study of snappers within the subfamily Lutjaninae in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean indicated that the monotypic genera Ocyurus and Rhomboplites sit within the genus Lutjanus.^[2]

Fossil history

The Lutjaninae are represented in the fossil record as far back as the 48.6 million years ago from the Eocene where specimens have been found in the United Kingdom and Louisiana. More recent specimens are known from the Miocene in Mexico and Florida and the Quaternary of the Turks and Caicos Islands.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: Fishes of the World . 5th . J. S. Nelson . T. C. Grande . M. V. H. Wilson . 2016 . 458 . Wiley . 978-1-118-34233-6 .
2. John R. Gold . Gary Voelker . Mark A. Renshaw . 2011 . Phylogenetic relationships of tropical western Atlantic snappers in subfamily Lutjaninae (Lutjanidae: Perciformes) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences . 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01621.x . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 102 . 4 . 915–929. free .
3. Web site: Subfamily Lutjaninae Gill 1861 (perch-like fish) . 17 December 2021 . Fossilworks.