Oplegnathus
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Oplegnathus is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine centrarchiform ray-finned fishes.[1] The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused into a parrot-like beak in adulthood. They feed on barnacles and mollusks, and are fished commercially. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[2]
The earliest records of knifejaws are fossilized beaks, with attached teeth, known from middle Eocene-aged sediments of the La Meseta Formation of Antarctica. Their early occurrence in Antarctica supports it having temperate climate during the Eocene, and that knifejaws had a wider distribution in the past than today.[3]
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[4]
- Oplegnathus conwayi J. Richardson, 1840, 1840 (Cape knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) (barred knifejaw or striped beakfish)
- Oplegnathus insignis (Kner, 1867) (Pacific beakfish)
- Oplegnathus peaolopesi J. L. B. Smith, 1947 (Mozambique knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus punctatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) (spotted knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus robinsoni Regan, 1916 (Natal knifejaw)
- Oplegnathus woodwardi Waite, 1900 (knifejaw)
References
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