Parascolopsis tanyactis explained

Parascolopsis tanyactis, the saddled dwarf monocle bream, longray monocle bream or yellowbellied monocle bream, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nemipteridae, the threadfin breams. This fish is found in the Eastern Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

Parascolopsis tanyactis was first formally described in 1986 by the Australian ichthyologist Barry C. Russell with its type locality given as north-northeast of Larrey Point over the North West Shelf, off Western Australia at depths between . The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies Parascolopsis within the family Nemipteridae which it places in the order Spariformes.[1]

Etymology

Parascolopsis tanyactis has the specific name tanyactis which is a combination of tanyo, meaning "stretched", and actis, which means "ray", an allusion to the elongated fourth and fifth soft rays of the dorsal fin in adults.[2]

Description

Parascolopsis tanyactis has its dorsal fin supported by 10 spines and 9 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7 soft rays. The body of this fish has a depth which averages one third of its standard length. The pectoral and pelvic fins are moderately long, the pectoral fins extend to or near to the anus while the pelvic fins which extend to around the level of the anus.[3] This species' has two dark bars on its back, both diffusing out on the lower side, alongside a dark bar across the tail base. The fourth and fifth dorsal rays are also elongated.[4] This species has a maximum published standard length of, although is more typical

Distribution and habitat

Parascolopsis tanyactis is distributed in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean occurring from southeastern Indonesia and northwestern Australia eastwards to northern Sabah, Malaysia and the central Philippines. This species occurs at depths between over the soft sediments of the continental shelf and slope.

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nelson, J.S. . Joseph S. Nelson . Grande, T.C. . Wilson, M.V.H. . 2016 . Fishes of the World . 5th . . Hoboken, NJ . 502-506 . 978-1-118-34233-6 . 2015037522 . 951899884 . 25909650M . 10.1002/9781119174844.
  2. Web site: Order SPARIFORMES: Families LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . 16 November 2023 . 17 October 2022 . Christopher Scharpf.
  3. Russell, B. C. . 1986 . Two new species of Parascolopsis (Pisces: Nemipteridae) from north-western Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines . The Beagle (Occasional Papers of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences) . 3 . 1 . 137-142 .
  4. Book: Allen, Gerry . Marine Fishes of South-East Asia . 138. 2000 . Periplus Editions ltd.. Singapore. 978-962-953-267-3.