Genus Macroramphosus Lacépède, 1803
- Macroramphosus Lacépède, B.G. 1803. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : chez Plassan Vol. 5 803 pp. 21 pls. [136].
Type species:
Silurus cornutus Forsskål, 1775 by monotypy (Silurus cornutus Forsskål, 1775 = Balistes scolopax Linnaeus, 1758. Both are synonyms of Macroramphosus scolopax Linnaeus, 1758. See Paxton et al. 2006. (Macroramphosidae. pp. 851-855 in Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3 2178 pp.[851-852]) for discussion of type species designation.). - Orthichthys Gill, T.N. 1862. On a new genus of fishes allied to Aulorhynchus and on the affinities of the family Aulorhynchoidea, to which it belongs. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 14(5): 233-235 [234].
Type species:
Centriscus velitaris Pallas, 1770 by monotypy.
Miscellaneous Literature Names
- Macrorhamphus [misspelling of genus name (see Introduction to family)].
- Macramphosus [misspelling of genus name (see Introduction to family)].
- Macrorhamphosus [misspelling of genus name (see Introduction to family)].
Introduction
There has been considerable uncertainty over the status of species of Macroramphus. Two morphological forms have been recognised, distinguished by coloration and body form. In recent years, most workers treated both as distinct and widely distributed species, largely found in temperate environments. Clarke (1984) showed that males and females could be recognised of each morphological form using discriminate function analyses. Matthiessen et al. (2003) found similar results for western Ocean material. However, genetic studies of specimens from the eastern Atlantic did not find any genetic differences between the two forms. That study also found several individuals that were morphologically intermediate between the two forms (Robalo et al 2009). Subsequently, Noguchi et al. (2015) also found no genetic differences between the two forms. The scolopax form is known to be a benthic feeder and the gracilis form a planktonic feeder. Consequently Noguchi et al. (2015) suggested that these forms represent ecological morphotypes. They did note a genetic difference between material from the North Pacific and North-eastern Atlantic. Matthiessen et al. (2003) suggested that western Indian Ocean material differed morphologically from Australian material, which is also supported by publicly available DNA barcoding results. Fritzsche (2016) suggested that the separation of the two forms has not been fully resolved. Tentatively we retain the two names because they represent ecological forms, but recognise that they are probably not distinct species. At present Australian material has not been studied extensively and we retain the names scolopax and gracilis until more detailed studies are carried out.
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Circumglobal.
IMCRA
Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), Central Eastern Province (12), Lord Howe Province (14), Central Eastern Transition (15), Northeast Province (18), Norfolk Island Province (21), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Central Western Transition (5), Central Western Province (6), Southwest Transition (7), Southern Province (8), West Tasmania Transition (9)
Other Regions
Coral Sea Islands Territory
General References
Clarke, T.A. 1984. Diet and morphological variation in snipefishes, presently recognized as Macrorhamphosus scolopax, from southeast Australia: evidence for two sexually dimorphic species. Copeia 1984(3): 595-608
Fritzsche, R.A. 2016. Macroramphosidae. pp. 2246-2248 in Carpenter, K.E. & De Angelis, N. (eds.). The Living Marine Resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. Bony Fishes Part 1 (Elopiformes to Scorpaeniformes). Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1511-2350. [2248]
Matthiessen, B., Fock, H.O. & Westernhagen, H. von 2003. Evidence for two sympatric species of snipefishes Macroramphosus spp. (Syngnathiformes, Centriscidae) on Great Meteor Seamount. Helgoland Marine Research 57: 63–72
Noguchi , T., Sakuma, K., Kitahashi, T., Itoh, H., Kano, Y., Shinohara, G., Hashimoto, J. & Kojima, S. 2015. No genetic deviation between two morphotypes of the snipefishes (Macroramphosidae: Macroramphosus) in Japanese waters. Ichthyological Research 62: 368-373
Robalo, J.I., Sousa-Santos, C., Cabral, H., Castilho, R. & Almada, V.C. 2009. Genetic evidence fails to discriminate between Macroramphosus gracilis Lowe 1839 and Macroramphosus scolopax Linnaeus 1758 in Portuguese waters. Marine Biology 156: 1733-1737
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27-Jul-2017 | SYNGNATHIFORMES | 01-May-2017 | MODIFIED | Dr Doug Hoese Dr Matthew Lockett |
| 25-Jun-2015 | SYNGNATHIFORMES | 24-Feb-2015 | MODIFIED | Dr Dianne Bray (NMV) Dr Doug Hoese (AM) Dr Matthew Lockett (AM) |
| 27-Jul-2010 | MODIFIED |