Proteracanthus

Proteracanthus is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. The only species in the genus is Proeracanthus sarissophorus which occurs in coral reefs around Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra.^[1] This species is also known as the harpoon spadefish,^[2] or in Malaysia as drummer, knightfish, rudderfish or sea chub. This species grows to a length of 32.5 centimetres (12.8 in) SL.^[1]

Proteracanthus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acanthuriformes
Family:	Ephippidae
Genus:	Proteracanthus Günther, 1859
Species:	P. sarissophorus
Binomial name
Proteracanthus sarissophorus (Cantor, 1849)
Synonyms[1]
Crenidens sarissophorus Cantor, 1849 Girella sarissophorus (Cantor, 1849)

Taxonomy

Proteracanthus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1859 by the German-born British herpetologist and ichthyologist Albert Günther. Its only species was Crenidens sassiphorus^[3] which had been described in 1849 by the Danish zoologist Theodore Edward Cantor with its type locality given as the Sea of Penang in Malaya.^[4] This taxon belongs to the family Ephippidae^[4] in the order Moroniformes.^[5]

Etymology

Proteracanthus is a combination of proteros, meaning “before” or “earlier”, with acanthus, a “spine” or “thorn”. This is a reference to the horizontal spine in front of the dorsal fin. The specific name combines sarissa, a “pike”, with phorus, meaning “to bear”, an allusion to the elongated fourth spine of the dorsal fin.^[6]