Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Lutjaniformes
Familia: Lutjanidae
Subfamilia: Apsilinae
Genus: Apsilus
Species: A. dentatus – A. fuscus
Name
Aprion Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1830
References
Apsilus – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Apsilus species list in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2022. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 08/2021.
Vernacular names
Apsilus is a small genus of marine ray-finned fish, snappers belonging to the family Lutjanidae. The two species within the genus are native to the Atlantic Ocean,[2]
Characteristics
The two species within the genus Apsilus are medium-sized snappers with fusiform bodies, the body can be slender or relativeliy deep but these are robist fishes. The jaws are equipped with moderatelly sized teeth which are conical or bristle shaped and which are arranged in bands with the outer row enlarged. They have a continuous dorsal fin which is not notched where the spiny and soft-rayed parts meet. The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 9 or 10 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays.The dorsal and anal fins are lacking in scales while the caudal fin is scaled, the caudal fin may be forked or emarginate.[3]
Distribution
Apsilus fishes are found in the Atlantic Ocean, the African forktail snapper has been reported from the Indian Ocean[3] but these reports are questionable.[4]
Habitat and biology
Apsilus snappers inhabit waters with depths between 30 and 300 m (98 and 984 ft), typically over rocky substrates. They may be encountered as solitary fish or in aggregations and they feed on small fish, squid, benthic crustaceans and more sizeable zooplankton.[3]
Species
The following currently recognized species make up the genus Apsilus:[2]
Apsilus dentatus Guichenot, 1853 (black snapper)
Apsilus fuscus Valenciennes, 1830 (African forktail snapper)
Systematics and etymology
Apsilus was created in 1830 when the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes described A. fuscus from the Cape Verde Islands.[1] In 1980 when G. David Johnson designated the subfamily Apsilinae within the Lutjanidae he used Apsilus as its type genus.[5]
Apsilusis formed the word a meaning "not" and psilos meaning naked or bald, Valenciennes did not explain what this name alludes to but these fishes have scales on the caudal fin, but none of the other fins are scaled.[6]
References
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lutjanidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Apsilus in FishBase. February 2021 version.
Gerald R. Allen (1985). FAO species catalogue Vol.6. Snappers of the world An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date (PDF). FAO Rome. p. 18. ISBN 92-5-102321-2.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2021). "Apsilus fuscus" in FishBase. February 2021 version.
Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230.
Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (5 January 2021). "Order LUTJANIFORMES: Families HAEMULIDAE and LUTJANIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
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