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Choerodon

Genus of fishes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Choerodon
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Choerodon is a genus of wrasses native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.[3] They originated in the Miocene, when the Australian and Eurasian Plates collided.[4] They are commonly referred to as tuskfish, because most species have sharp tusk-like teeth.

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Taxonomy

The genus Choerodon is most closely related to the odacine wrasses. Both groups are part of the wrasse tribe Hypsigenyini. Choerodon is split into 6 subgenera.[5] Molecular phylogenetic analysis has so far demonstrated the monophyly of the subgenera, although not all species in the genus have been evaluated.[6]

Choerodon typus was traditionally placed within its own genus Xiphocheilus, but both morphological and molecular analyses now place it within Choerodon, with Xiphocheilus becoming its subgenus name instead.[5][6]

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Potential tool use in tuskfishes

Orange-dotted, blue, graphic, and blackspot tuskfish have been recorded using large rocks or hard coral as "anvils", upon which they smash open hard-shelled prey items. All four species belong to the subgenus Choerodon, and can remember to use a particular rock or coral repeatedly for this purpose. This behaviour usually involves invertebrate prey such as clams and sea urchins, but on one occasion, a blue tuskfish was filmed smashing a young green sea turtle on an anvil.[7][8][9][10][11] Anvil use is also documented in several other wrasse genera.[11][12][13]

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Species

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The 27 currently recognized species in this genus are:[3][5][14][15]

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References

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