Spicara is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. These fishes are found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species in the genus are known as picarels.
| Spicara | |
|---|---|
| |
| Spicara flexuosa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Acanthuriformes |
| Family: | Sparidae |
| Genus: | Spicara Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Type species | |
| Spicara flexuosa Rafinesque, 1810
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Taxonomy
editSpicara was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1810 by the French naturalist and polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque when he described Spicara flexuosa as a new species.[1] Rafinesque gave the type locality of S. flexuosa as Sicily.[2] The genera Spicara and Centracanthus were formerly classified within the family Centracanthidae but phylogenetic analyses recovered the family Sparidae as paraphyletic if Spicara was not included within it. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the picarels in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.[3] Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Boopsinae,[4] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.[3]
Etymology
editSpicara is a vernacular name for picarels, particularly S. flexuosa in Italy. This is presumed to derive from spica, "a spike", or spicare, meaning "in the form of or furnished with a spike", Rafinesque did not explain why he chose this name.[5]
Species
editThere are currently eight recognized species in this genus:[6]
- Spicara alta (Osório, 1917) (Bigeye picarel)
- Spicara australis (Regan, 1921) (Southern picarel)
- Spicara axillare (Boulenger, 1900) (Windtoy)
- Spicara flexuosum (Rafinesque, 1810)[7][8]
- Spicara maena (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blotched picarel)
- Spicara martinicus (Valenciennes, 1830)
- Spicara melanurus Valenciennes, 1830) (Blackspot picarel)
- Spicara nigricauda (Norman, 1931) (Blacktail picarel)
- Spicara smaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Picarel)
Characteristics
editSpicara picarels have oblong bodies which are deeper than the length of the head. They have a continuous dorsal fin with the bases of the soft rayed parts of both the dorsal and the anal fin are enclosed in a scaly sheath.[9] The largest species in the genus is S. axillaris with a maximum published total length of 38 cm (15 in) while with a maximum published total length of 20 cm (7.9 in) S. nigricauda is the smallest species.[6]
Distribution
editSpicara picarels are found mainly in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Indian Ocean.[6] There is one species S. martinicum which is known only from its holotype collected off the island of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Sparidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Spicara". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ a b Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 502–506. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN 2015037522. OCLC 951899884. OL 25909650M.
- ^ Parenti, P. (2019). "An annotated checklist of the fishes of the family Sparidae". FishTaxa. 4 (2): 47–98.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf (12 January 2024). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 6): Families GERREIDAE, LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Spicara". FishBase. October 2023 version.
- ^ Bektas Y.; Aksu I.; Kalayci G.; Irmak E.; Engin S.; Turan D. (2018). "Genetic differentiation of three Spicara (Pisces: Centracanthidae) species, S. maena, S. flexuosa and S. smaris: and intraspecific substructure of S. flexuosa in Turkish coastal waters". Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 18 (2): 301–311. doi:10.4194/1303-2712-v18_2_09.
- ^ Imsiridou A.; Minos G.; Gakopoulou A.; Katsares V.; Karidas T.; Katselis G. (2011). "Discrimination of two picarel species Spicara flexuosa and Spicara maena (Pisces: Centracanthidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequences". Journal of Fish Biology. 78 (1): 373–377. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02858.x. PMID 21235569.
- ^ Yukio Iwatsuki and Phillip C Heemstra (2022). "Family Sparidae". In Phillip C Heemstra; Elaine Heemstra; David A Ebert; Wouter Holleman; and John E Randall (eds.). Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (PDF). Vol. 3. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. pp. 284–315. ISBN 978-1-990951-32-9.
- ^ Carpenter, K.E.; Russell, B. & Pollard, D. (2014). "Spicara martinicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T170287A1309077. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T170287A1309077.en. Retrieved 20 February 2024.