Subfamily Plesiopinae

Plesiopidae: Plesiopinae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

Paraplesiops bleekeri

© Copyright Ogilby (1916)

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Introduction

Thirty species of plesiopines in seven genera are currently recognised from the Indo-Pacific region. All seven genera and 21 species are known from Australian waters. The group is characterised by the presence of numerous dorsal spines, a disjunct lateral line and four soft pelvic rays. The subfamily shows considerable similarity to New World grammids. Plesiopines live on coral or rocky reefs and range in size from about 4 to 20 cm.

Various authors have revised several of the seven genera of the prettyfins — Trachinops (Allen 1977), Assessor (Allen & Kuiter 1976), Plesiops (Inger 1955; Mooi 1995) and Paraplesiops, including a key to described genera (Hoese & Kuiter 1984). The remaining genera have one or two species. Mooi (1999) provided a key to tropical species from the central west Pacific.

General References

Allen, G.R. 1977. A revision of the plesiopid fish genus Trachinops, with the description of a new species from Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5(1): 59-72 figs 1-2

Allen, G.R. & Kuiter, R.H. 1976. A review of the plesiopid fish genus Assessor, with descriptions of two new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum 4(3): 201-215 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. [1052]

Hoese, D.F. & Kuiter, R.H. 1984. A revision of the Australian plesiopid fish genus Paraplesiops, with notes on other Australian genera. Records of the Australian Museum 36(1/2): 7-18 figs 1-9

Inger, R.F. 1955. A revision of the fishes of the genus Plesiops Cuvier. Pacific Science 9(3): 259-276 figs 1-4

Mooi, R.D. 1995. Revision, phylogeny, and discussion of biology and biogeography of the fish genus Plesiops (Perciformes: Plesiopidae). Royal Ontario Museum Life Sciences Contributions 159: 1-107

Mooi, R.D. 1999. Families Plesiopidae, Notograptidae. pp. 2586-2587 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.

Ogilby, J.D. 1918. Edible fishes of Queensland. Parts 10–14. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 6: 45-90 figs 16-26 [pl. 16] (Drawing by E. Waite)

Common Name References

Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp. [264] (Longfins)

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