Boops

{{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Middle Miocene|present}} | image = Boops boops.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Boops boops]]'' | taxon = Boops | authority = [[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1814 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = see text | type_species = ''[[Boops boops|Sparus boops]]'' | type_species_authority = [[Linnaeus]], 1758 | synonyms = {{genus list | Box | [[Achille Valenciennes|Valenciennes]] in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1830 | Exocallus| [[Jean Bachelot La Pylaie|de la Pylaie]], 1835}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = Parenti>{{cite journal |last1=Parenti |first1=Paolo |title=An annotated checklist of the fishes of the family Sparidae |journal=FishTaxa |date=2019 |volume=4 |issue=2 |url=https://www.biotaxa.org/ft/article/view/56674}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fowler |first1=Henry W. |title=The Marine Fishes of West Africa Based on the Collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909–1915. Part II |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |date=1936 |volume=70 |pages=848–850 |hdl=2246/1072 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> }}

'''''Boops''''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|.|ɒ|p|s}} is a [[genus]] of marine [[ray-finned fish]]es belonging to the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Sparidae]], the seabreams and porgies. There are two species in this genus, one in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, and the other in the Western Indian Ocean.

==Taxonomy== ''Boops'' was first proposed as a genus in 1814 by the French [[zoologist]] [[Georges Cuvier]] with ''Sparus boops'' being its [[type species]] by "absolute [[tautonymy]]".<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Sparidae|access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> This taxon is placed in the family Sparidae within the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Spariformes]] by the 5th edition of ''[[Fishes of the World]]''.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |author1-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |year=2016 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |place=Hoboken, NJ |pages=502–506 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |lccn=2015037522 |oclc=951899884 |ol=25909650M |doi=10.1002/9781119174844}}</ref> Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Boopsinae,<ref name = Parenti/> but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.<ref name = Nelson5/>

==Etymology== ''Boops'' derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|βό}} ({{transliteration|grc|bo}}) meaning 'ox' and {{lang|grc|ὤψ}} ({{transliteration|grc|ops}}) meaning 'eye', referring to its large eyes.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/spariformes/ |title=Order SPARIFORMES: Families LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |access-date=28 December 2023 |date=22 December 2022 |publisher=Christopher Scharpf |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030165034/https://etyfish.org/spariformes/ }}</ref>

==Species== ''Boops'' contains 2 species:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Boops|month=October|year=2023}}</ref>

* ''[[Boops boops]]'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bogue) * ''[[Boops lineatus]]'' ([[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1892) (Striped boga) The fossil species †''[[Boops roulei]]'' [[Camille Arambourg|Arambourg]], 1927 (=†''Boops gortanii'' D'Erasmo, 1930) is known from the [[Late Miocene]] of Italy and [[Algeria]]. This species was likely driven to extinction by ecological shifts from the [[Messinian salinity crisis]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carnevale |first=Giorgio |date=2002-12-13 |title=Boops roulei Arambourg (Teleostei, Percoidei) in the Messinian of Central Italy, with comments on systematics, paleoecology and zoogeography |url=https://www.schweizerbart.de//papers/njgpm/detail/2002/92041/Boops_roulei_Arambourg_Teleostei_Percoidei_in_the_?af=crossref |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte |issue=12 |language=en |pages=725–736 |doi=10.1127/njgpm/2002/2002/725|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In addition, an indeterminate fossil ''Boops'' potentially allied with ''B. roulei'' is known from [[Middle Miocene]]-aged [[Paratethys|Paratethyan]] sediments from [[Austria]].<ref>{{Citation |last1=Carnevale |first1=Giorgio |title=The Badenian Fish Fauna of St. Margarethen, Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin, Burgenland, Central Paratethys: Stratigraphy, Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography |date=2013 |url=https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/138505 |access-date=2025-08-28 |publisher=TUR |isbn=978-975-561-438-0 |last2=Harzhauser |first2=M.}}</ref>

==Characteristics== ''Boops'' is characterised by having a torpedo-shaped, elongated body with large eyes, the diameter of the eyes being longer than the snout. The [[pectoral fin]]s are short, being three-quarters the length of the head and the [[caudal fin]] has a deep fork. There is a single row of teeth in the jaws, these are incisor-like. There are dark stripes along the otherwise silvery body.<ref name = WIOF>{{cite book |author=Yukio Iwatsuki |author2=Phillip C Heemstra |name-list-style=and |chapter=Family Sparidae |pages=284–315 |title=Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean |volume=3 |editor1=[[Phil Heemstra|Phillip C Heemstra]] |editor2=Elaine Heemstra |editor3=David A Ebert |editor4=Wouter Holleman |editor5=[[John Ernest Randall|John E Randall]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-990951-32-9 |publisher=South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity |url=https://saiab.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/1._wiof_volume_3_text.pdf}}</ref> The largest of the 2 species is the bogue, which has a maximum published [[total length]] of {{cvt|40|cm}} while the striped boga has a maximum published total length of {{cvt|25|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution and habitat== ''Boops'' species are [[Parapatric speciation|parapatric]]. The bogue is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway south to Angola and in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] and [[Black Sea]]s.<ref name = Fishbase2>{{FishBase|Boops|boops|month=October|year=2023}}</ref> The silvery boga is found in the western Indian Ocean along the southern coast of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] from central Yemen to the [[Gulf of Oman]].<ref name = iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Iwatsuki, Y. |author2=Russell, B. |author3=Pollard, D. |author4=Mann, B.Q. |author5=Buxton, C.D. |author6=Carpenter, K.E. |display-authors=3 |year=2014 |title=''Boops lineatus'' |article-number=e.T170171A1287031 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T170171A1287031.en |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> They are gregarious fishes that form [[Shoaling and schooling|schools]] in shallow coastal waters.<ref name = Fishbase2/>

==Fisheries== ''Boops'' are fished for, although the smaller silvery boga is probably only taken by subsistence fishers. The bogue is pursued commercially and used as a food fish, bait in tuna fisheries and to make [[fish meal]].<ref name = iucn2>{{cite iucn |author=Pollard, D. |author2=Carpenter, K.E. |author3=Russell, B. |name-list-style=& |year=2014 |title=''Boops boops'' |article-number=e.T170251A1301787 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T170251A1301787.en |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Sparidae]] [[Category:Marine fish genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by Georges Cuvier]] [[Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea]] [[Category:Spariform fish genera]]