The Gladius sea chub (Kyphosus gladius) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea chub in the family Kyphosidae. It was recognised a new species in 2013 and is found in the southeastern Indian Ocean where endemic to the southern coasts of Western Australia.
| Gladius sea chub | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Kyphosidae |
| Genus: | Kyphosus |
| Species: | K. gladius
|
| Binomial name | |
| Kyphosus gladius | |
Description
editKyphosus gladius has an elongated, elliptically-shaped body with a terminal mouth and a short head.[2] There are 55-64 scales in the lateral line of which 44-55 are pored.[3] The caudal peduncle is long and shallow. Most of the head and body is covered in large, ctenoid scales.[2] The continuous dorsal fin has 10 - 11 spines and 11-12 soft rays and the short-based anal fin has 3 spines and 11-12 soft rays.[1] The overall colour is silvery to metallic bluish, the gill cover has a vertical green bar near its rear and the back is darker than the underparts, although this is not seen as counter-shading.[3] The standard length of the largest fish measured is 45.7 centimetres (18.0 in).[1]
Distribution
editKyphosus gladius is found in the southeastern Indian Ocean where it is endemic to the southern coasts of Western Australia. The distribution runs from the Houtman Abrolhos to Albany.[3]
Habitat and biology
editKyphosus gladius occurs over rocky substrates down to depths of 20 metres (66 ft). It will form mixed schools with Kyphosus bigibbus and Kyphosus sydneyanus.[2]
Taxonomy
editKyphosus gladius was described in 2013 by Steen Wilhelm Knudsen and Kendall D. Clements with the type locality given as Canal Rocks, Yallingup Reef, Western Australia.[4] It has previously been confused with K. sydneyanus, Knudsen and Clements showed that this was a separate species, although previously another species named Kyphosus klunzingeri has been named from Western Australia but this is now regarded as a nomen dubium.[2]
References
edit
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Kyphosus gladius". FishBase. December 2019 version.
- ^ a b c d Steen Wilhelm Knudsen & Kendall D. Clements (2013). "Revision of the Fish Family Kyphosidae". Zootaxa. 3751: 1–101. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3751.1.1.
- ^ a b c Bray, D.J. (2019). "Kyphosus gladius". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Kyphosus gladius". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 27 April 2020.