Family PRIACANTHIDAE

Priacanthidae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

Cookeolus japonicus, holotype of Priacanthus velabundus McCulloch

© Copyright from McCulloch 1915

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Introduction

Members of the Priacanthidae are found in tropical and subtropical waters. Four genera and 17 species are recognised worldwide (Starnes 1988), with nine species in four genera known from Australian waters.

Although the adults are benthic on shelf and slope waters to 400 m, young juveniles are found in surface waters. Recorded food items include octopus, crustaceans, fishes and polychaetes. All species have very large eyes, 16 principal caudal fin rays and most have a red body colour as adults. Maximum size reached is 60 cm.

The bigeyes or deepsea bullseyes from the western Atlantic were reviewed by Caldwell (1962), and Lee (1980) reviewed those from Taiwan. The family was revised by Starnes (1988) and most of the Australian species are treated in Starnes (1999).

General References

Caldwell, D.K. 1962. Western Atlantic fishes of the family Priacanthidae. Copeia 1962(2): 417-424 figs 1-4

Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. 2006. Fishes. In, Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp. [1116]

Lee, S.-C. 1980. The family Priacanthidae of Taiwan. Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum 33(1/2): 43-54 figs 1-9

McCulloch, A.R. 1915. Report on some fishes obtained by the F.I.S. Endeavour on the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South and South-Western Australia. Part 3. Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. Endeavour 1909-1914 3(3): 97-170 figs 1-3 pls 13-37 [pl. 19]

Starnes, W.C. 1988. Revision, phylogeny and biogeographic comments on the circumtropical marine percoid fish family Priacanthidae. Bulletin of Marine Science 43(2): 117-203

Starnes, W.C. 1999. Family Priacanthidae. pp. 2590-2601 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790.

Common Name References

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls. [142] (Big-eyes)

Starnes, W.C. 1999. Family Priacanthidae. pp. 2590-2601 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. [2590] (FAO) (Bigeyes)

Whitley, G.P. 1948. A list of the fishes of Western Australia. Western Australia Fish Department. Fisheries Bulletin 2: 1-35 map [19] (Deepsea Bullseye)

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