Scorpidinae

Scorpidinae
The blue maomao, Scorpis violacea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Superfamily: Percoidea
Family: Kyphosidae
Subfamily: Scorpidinae
Genera

Bathystethus
Labracoglossa
Medialuna
Scorpis
See text for species.

The Scorpidinae, commonly known as halfmoons, knifefishes, and sweeps, are a subfamily of the sea chubs, a family of marine fish in the order Perciformes. The Scorpidinae are distributed throughout the Pacific and east Indian Oceans, with species occurring in the waters of North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and numerous islands. Most inhabit the continental shelf in shallow rock and kelp reefs and deeper offshore reefs, whilst others are found well offshore in a pelagic setting. Most of the Scorpidinae are carnivorous, taking a variety of small crustaceans, although some are partly herbivorous. A number of the larger species are fished commercially and recreationally, and are considered good table fish.

Classification

Fishbase lists 11 species in four genera under the subfamily Scorpidinae. This is a list of known all extant species.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.