Brachygenys

Brachygenys is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, grunts belonging to the family Haemulidae. The species within the genus are found in the eastern Pacific Ocean and western Atlantic Ocean. It is not yet recognised by Fishbase but is by the Catalog of Fishes.

Brachygenys
Brachygenys chrysargyrea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acanthuriformes
Family:	Haemulidae
Subfamily:	Haemulinae
Genus:	Brachygenys Poey, 1868
Type species
Haemulon taeniatum Poey, 1860[1]
Synonyms[1]
Xenistius Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 Xenocys Jordan & Bollman, 1890

Species

The following species are classified within the genus Brachygenys:^[2]

• Brachygenys californiensis (Steindachner, 1875) (California salema)
• Brachygenys chrysargyrea (Gũnther, 1860) (Smallmouth grunt)
• Brachygenys jessiae Jordan & Bollman, 1890 (Black-striped salema)
• Brachygenys peruanus (Hildebrand, 1856)

Systematics

The type species of Brachygenys is Haemulon chrysargyreum which as H. taeniatum was described by the Cuban zoologist Felipe Poey (1799-1891) but that taxon is a junior synonym of H. chrysargyreum. Fishbase still places H. chrysargyreum in the genus Haemulon,^[3] molecular studies now suggest that Haemulon sensu lato is paraphyletic because H. chrysargyreum clustered with Xenistius californiensis, rendering Haemulon as paraphyletic if Xenistius was not included.^[4] The genus Brachygenys Poey, 1868 was revived to include the species listed above.^[5]