Rypticus

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: Serranidae
Subfamilia: Grammistinae
Genus: Rypticus
Species: R. bicolor - R. bistrispinus - R. bornoi - R. carpenteri – R. courtenayi - R. maculatus - R. nigripinnis - R. randalli - R. saponaceus - R. subbifrenatus

Name

Rypticus Cuvier, 1829: 144

Type species: Anthias saponaceus ♂ Bloch & Schneider, 1801. Type by subsequent designation. Type designated by Desmarest, 1856: 206
Synonyms

Eleutheractis Cope, 1871: 467
Promicropterus Gill, 1861: 31
Smecticus Valenciennes, 1855: 305

References

Cuvier, G. 1829: Le Règne Animal, distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. Edition 2. 2: i-xv + 1-406.
Guimarães, R.Z.P. 1999: Revision, phylogeny and comments on biogeography of soapfishes of the genus Rypticus (Teleostei: Serranidae). Bulletin of Marine Science, 65(2): 337–379.
Rypticus – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Rypticus species list in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 02/2024.

Vernacular names
English: Soapfishes

Rypticus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, related to the groupers and classified within the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae. It is one of several genera of soapfishes. These fish live in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans in tropical and warmer temperate zones.[3]
Description

The genus can be distinguished from the rest of the Serranidae by a few morphological details, such as its lack of anal fin spines. It also has only two to four dorsal fin spines; other serranids have more. The mouth is large and the lower jaw protrudes. The coloration varies, but usually a brown stripe runs from the mouth to the front of the dorsal fin. Several species are distinctly spotted. R. bistrispinus has red-brown spots, R. bornoi and R. subbifrenatus have dark brown, rounded spots, R. maculatus has white spots, R. bicolor and R. courtenayi have many rounded, pale cream spots, and R. nigripinnis has ocellated (eye-like) spots, while R. randalli is more blotchy than spotted.[3]
Biology

Like many other soapfishes, Rysticus species secrete large amounts of toxic mucus from their skin in response to stress. The toxin, grammistin, repels predators.[3]

Rypticus species are nocturnal, feeding at night on crustaceans, molluscs, and fish.[3]

These fish are protogynous hermaphrodites, with females able to change sex to male. This is not uncommon among the serranids. Rypticus is unique, though, in that a fish has both male and female reproductive tissues which are separate on the cellular level, but are wrapped around each other in the gonad.[3]
Ecology

Most species live around islands and along the continental shelves. R. nigripinnis and R. randalli can tolerate lower salinities than many serranids, and they are known to inhabit estuaries.[3]
Taxonomy

Ten species in this genus are known.[4][5] The latest, R. carpenteri, was described in 2012.[6]

Species include:

Rypticus bicolor (Valenciennes, 1846) (mottled soapfish)
Rypticus bistrispinus (Mitchill, 1818) Freckled soapfish
Rypticus bornoi Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928 (Largespotted soapfish)
Rypticus carpenteri Baldwin & Weigt, 2012 (Slope soapfish)
Rypticus courtenayi McArtney, 1979 (Socorran soapfish)
Rypticus maculatus Holbrook, 1855 (white-spotted soapfish)
Rypticus nigripinnis Gill, 1861 (blackfin soapfish)
Rypticus randalli Courtenay, 1967 (plain soapfish)
Rypticus saponaceus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (greater soapfish)
Rypticus subbifrenatus Gill, 1861 (spotted soapfish)

Conservation

R. courtenayi has the narrowest distribution, being endemic to the Revillagigedo Islands of Mexico. Its range is only about 25 km2. It is listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.[7]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Rypticus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Grammistinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
Guimarães, R. Z. P. (1999). Revision, phylogeny and comments on biogeography of soapfishes of the genus Rypticus (Teleostei: Serranidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 65(2) 337-79.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. Rypticus species. FishBase. 2011.
Bailly, N. (2013). Rypticus Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1829. In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Accessed 9 June 2013.
Baldwin, C. C. and L. A. Weigt. (2012). A new species of soapfish (Teleostei: Serranidae: Rypticus), with redescription of R. subbifrenatus and comments on the use of DNA barcoding in systematic studies. Copeia 2012(1) 23-36.
Smith-Vaniz, B., et al. 2010. Rypticus courtenayi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 9 June 2013.