Calamus (fish)

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic_taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|33|0}} Early [[Oligocene]] to Present<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |pages=560 |date=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2007-12-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220223520/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2009-02-20 }}</ref> | image = Calamus bajonado.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Calamus bajonado]]'' | taxon = Calamus | authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1839 | type_species = ''[[Saucereye porgy|Calamus megacephalus]]'' | type_species_authority = Swainson, 1839<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Sparidae|access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref> | synonyms = * ''Grammateus'' [[Felipe Poey|Poey]], 1872 | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = see text }}

'''''Calamus''''' is a [[genus]] of marine [[ray-finned fish]]es belonging to the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Sparidae]], the seabreams and porgies. Most of the species in this genus are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, with 2 species occurring in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

==Taxonomy== ''Calamus'' was first proposed as a [[monospecific genus]] in 1839 by the English [[zoologist]] [[William Swainson]] when he [[Species description|described]] ''Calamus megacephalus'' as its only species.<ref name = Swainson>{{cite book |author=Swainson, W. |year=1839 |title=On the natural history and classification of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals |publisher= Spottiswoode & Co. |location=London |volume=2 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40723234#page/235/mode/1up}}</ref> The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] of ''C. megacephalus'' was given as [[Martinique]], it was later found to be a [[junior synonym]] of ''[[Calamus calamus|Pagellus calamus]]'', described by [[Achille Valenciennes]] in 1830.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Calamus|access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref> This genus 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 Sparinae,<ref name = Parenti>{{cite journal |author= Parenti, P. |year=2019 |title=An annotated checklist of the fishes of the family Sparidae |journal=FishTaxa |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=47–98 |url= https://fishtaxa.com/menuscript/index.php/ft/article/view/49/52}}</ref> but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.<ref name = Nelson5/>

==Etymology== ''Calamus'' means "[[quill]]", an allusion to what Swainson described as “the second anal-fin spine, hollow, shaped as a pen".<ref name = Swainson/> The name of the [[senior synonym]] of the [[type species]] is, therefore, not a [[tautonym]].<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=1 January 2024 |date=22 December 2023 |publisher=Christopher Scharpf |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030165034/https://etyfish.org/spariformes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Species == ''Calamus'' contains the fiollowing recognized species:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Calamus|month=October|year=2023}}</ref> * ''[[Calamus arctifrons]]'' [[George Brown Goode|Goode]] & [[Tarleton Hoffman Bean|T. H. Bean]], 1882 (Grass porgy) * ''[[Calamus bajonado]]'' ([[Marcus Elieser Bloch|Bloch]] & [[Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider|Schneider]], 1801) (Jolthead porgy) * ''[[Calamus brachysomus]]'' ([[William Neale Lockington|Lockington]], 1880) {Pacific porgy) * ''[[Calamus calamus]]'' ([[Achille Valenciennes|Valenciennes]], 1830) (Saucereye porgy) * ''[[Calamus campechanus]]'' [[John Ernest Randall|J. E. Randall]] and [[David Keller Caldwell|D. K. Caldwell]], 1966 (Campeche porgy) * ''[[Calamus cervigoni]]'' [[John Ernest Randall|J. E. Randall]] and [[David Keller Caldwell|D. K. Caldwell]], 1966 (Spotfin porgy) * ''[[Calamus leucosteus]]'' [[David Starr Jordan|D. S. Jordan]] & [[Charles Henry Gilbert|Gilbert]], 1885 * ''[[Calamus mu]]'' [[John Ernest Randall|J. E. Randall]] and [[David Keller Caldwell|D. K. Caldwell]], 1966 (Flathead porgy) * ''[[Calamus nodosus]]'' [[John Ernest Randall|J. E. Randall]] and [[David Keller Caldwell|D. K. Caldwell]], 1966 (Knobbed porgy) * ''[[Calamus penna]]'' (Valenciennes, 1830) (Sheepshead porgy) * ''[[Calamus pennatula]]'' [[Alphonse Guichenot|Guichenot]], 1868 (Pluma porgy) * ''[[Calamus proridens]]'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1884 (Littlehead porgy) * ''[[Calamus taurinus]]'' ([[Leonard Jenyns|Jenyns]], 1840) (Galápagos porgy)

==Characteristics== ''Calamus'' porgies are characterized by having deep, compressed bodies and deep heads which has a steep dorsal profile and deep cheeks. The posterior nostrils are slits. The large mouth has fleshy lips and a large lower jaw. The suborbital bone overlaps the rear of the [[maxilla]]. There are 2 rows of teeth in the jaws, the teeth at the front are canine like and those in the rear resemble molars. The [[preoperculum]] has no serrations or spines on its margin. The [[dorsal fin]] is low and contains 13 spines while the [[anal fin]] is contains 3 spines. The [[pectoral fin]]s are markedly longer than the [[pelvic fin]]s. The cheeks and gill cover are scaled but the snout and space in front of the eyes are naked.<ref name = STRI>{{cite web |url=https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/taxon/1397 |title=Genus: Calamus, Common Porgy, Porgies |access-date=2 January 2024 |work=Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information |publisher=[[Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute]]}}</ref> The largest species in the genus is the [[jolthead porgy]] (''C. bajonado'') which has a maximum published [[fork length]] of {{cvt|76|cm}} while the smallest is the spotfin porgy (''C. cervigoni'') with a maximum published [[total length]] of {{cvt|20|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution== ''Calamus'' porgies are found in the Americas, 11 of the 13 species being found in the Western Atlantic Ocean and the other 2, ''C. brachysomus'' and ''C. taurinus'', in the eastern Pacific Ocean.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Fisheries== Calamus porgies are valued as food fishes and are important quarry species for both commercial and recreational fisheries.<ref name = Darcy>{{cite book |author=George H. Darcy |year=1986 |title=Synopsis of Biological Data on the Porgies, ''Calamus arctifrons'' and ''C. proridens'' (Pisces: Sparidae) |publisher=[[NOAA]] |series=NOAA Technical Report |volume=NMFS44 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11018489.pdf}}</ref>

==References== <references/> * {{ITIS |id=169195 |taxon=Calamus |accessdate=6 June 2006}}

[[Category:Calamus (fish)| ]] [[Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances]] [[Category:Marine fish genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by William Swainson]] [[Category:Rupelian genus first appearances]]