Bulldog dentex explained

The bulldog dentex (Virididentex acromegalus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. The bulldog dentex is the only species in the monospecific genus Virididentex and it is endemic to Cape Verde.

Taxonomy

The bulldog dentex was first formally described in 1911 as Dentex acromegalus by the Portuguese biologist Balthazar Osório with its type locality given as Ilha de Santo Antão in Cape Verde. In 1971 Max Poll reclassified this species in the monotypic genus Virididentex. This taxon is classified in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.^[1] Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Denticinae,^[2] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.^[1]

Etymology

The bulldog dentex has the genus name Virididentex combines viridis, meaning "green", with Dentex, the genus it was proposed as a subgenus of, the green part almost certainly refers to Cape Verde. The specific name acromegalus combines acro meaning "at the tip", and megalus, meaning "large", Osório did not explain this allusion, it mat refer to the protruding lower jaw.^[3]

Description

The bulldog dentex has an oblong compressed body, the dorsal profile of the head is convex at the nape and concave in front of the eyes. The eye is relatively small in size which has a diameter obviously less than the length of the snout. The scales on the crown extend froward beyond the front margin of the eyes. The oblique mouth has a protruding lower jaw. The teeth are canine-like and are arranged in several rows with the outermost row being the largest. The dorsal fin is supported by 11 spines, the fourth or fifth spine being the longest, and 11 soft rays and the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 or 9 soft rays, the last ray on both these fins is long and filamentous. There is a wide flattened spine in the pelvic fins which also have an obvious axillary scale. The overall colour is uniform brownish with reddish, greenish or bluish tints, paler on the bellu and with reddish fins.^[4] This species a maximum published total length of, although is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

The bulldog dentex is endemic to Cape Verde where it is found at depths between over rocky substrates.

Further reading

• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol. 1–3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. .
• Fenner, Robert M. The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Neptune City, New Jersey, USA: T.F.H. Publications, 2001.
• Helfman, G., B. Collette and D. Facey: The diversity of fishes. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts, USA, 1997.
• Hoese, D.F. 1986. A M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany
• Maugé, L.A. 1986. A J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren, Flanders; and ORSTOM, Paris, France, Vol. 2.
• Moyle, P. and J. Cech.: Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology, 4th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA: Prentice-Hall. 2000.
• Nelson, J.: Fishes of the World, 3rd ed.. New York, USA: John Wiley and Sons., 1994
• Wheeler, A.: The World Encyclopedia of Fishes, 2nd ed., London: Macdonald., 1985

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. Parenti, P. . 2019 . An annotated checklist of the fishes of the family Sparidae . FishTaxa . 4 . 2 . 47–98 .
3. Web site: Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 6): Families GERREIDAE, LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE . 6 February 2024 . 16 March 2024 . v. 3.0. Christopher Scharpf . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf.
4. Book: Kent E. Carpenter . Kent E. Carpenter . Sparidae . 2567–2620 . Carpenter, K.E. . De Angelis, N.. and . 2016 . The living marine resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic Volume 2 Bony fishes part 2 (Perciformes to Tetradontiformes) and Sea turtles . FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes . Rome . FAO . 978-92-5-109267-5.