Emmelichthys

Life-forms

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: Perciformes
Subordo: Percoidei
Superfamilia: Percoidea

Familia: Emmelichthyidae
Genus: Emmelichthys
Species: E. elongatus – E. karnellai – E. nitidus – E. ruber – E. struhsakeri
Name

Emmelichthys Richardson, 1845
References

Emmelichthys – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Emmelichthys species list in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 10/2023.

Vernacular names
English: Poolfishes

Emmelichthys is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Emmelichthyidae, the rovers and bonnetmouths. The species in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Taxonomy

Emmelichthys was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1845 by the Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer Sir John Richardson when he described Emmelichthys nitidus[1] from Western Australia.[2] The genus is classified in the small family Emmelichthyidae which is included in the order Acanthuriformes.[3]
Etymology

Emmelichthys prefices ichthys, meaning "fish" with emmeles, a word Richardson translated as "concinnus", that is something "skillfully put together", a reference to the "peculiarly neat aspect" of the E. nitidus.[4]
Species

There are seven species in the genus, including one newly described in 2014:[5]

Emmelichthys cyanescens Guichenot, 1848
Emmelichthys elongatus Kotlyar, 1982
Emmelichthys karnellai Heemstra & J. E. Randall, 1977 – Karnella's rover
Emmelichthys marisrubri R. Fricke, Golani & Appelbaum-Golani, 2014[6]
Emmelichthys nitidus J. Richardson, 1845
Emmelichthys ruber Trunov, 1976 – red rover
Emmelichthys struhsakeri Heemstra & J. E. Randall, 1977 – golden redbait

Characteristics

Emmelichthys fishes have slender cylindrical bodies, no deeper than 25% of their standard length. There is a clear gap between the spiny and soft rayed parts of the dorsal fin and the ultimate rays of both the dorsal and anal fins are markedly longer than the rays in front of them.[7] The rear edge of the operculum has 2 or 3 flat spines and the preoperculum has smooth or weakly serrated edge.[8] The largest species is E. nitidus with a maximum published total length of 55 cm (22 in) while the smallest is E. marisrubri with a maximum published standard length of 7.4 cm (2.9 in).[5]
Distribution

Emmelichthys fishes are found largely in the southern hemisphere in the eastern, central and western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the southeastern and western central Atlantic Ocean.[5]
Timeline
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emmelichthys.

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Emmelichthyidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Emmelichthys". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (9 March 2023). "Series Eupercaria (Incertae sedis): Families Callanthidae, Centrogenyidae, Dinopercidae, Emmelichthyidae, Malacanthidae, Monodactylidae, Moronidae, Parascorpididae, Sciaenidae and Sillagidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2023). Species of Emmelichthys in FishBase. February 2023 version.
Fricke, R., Golani, D. & Appelbaum-Golani, B. (2014): Emmelichthys marisrubri, a new rover from the southern Red Sea (Teleostei: Emmelichthyidae). Cybium 38(2): 83-87'.
Martin F. Gomon. "Emmelichthys". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
"Genus: Emmelichthys, Red Rover, Rovers". Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 10 April 2023.