Caracanthus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Caracanthus madagascariensis.jpg | image_caption = Spotted croucher (''Caracanthus madagascariensis'') | parent_authority = T. N. Gill, 1885<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp | year = 2014 | title = Family-group names of Recent fishes | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268078514 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 001–230 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }}</ref> | taxon = Caracanthus | authority = Krøyer, 1845 | type_species = Caracanthus typicus | type_species_authority = Krøyer, 1845<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Scorpaenidae|access-date=22 February 2022}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = }}

'''''Caracanthus''''', the '''coral crouchers''', or '''orbicular velvetfishes''', are a genus of ray-finned fishes. They live in coral reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific. This genus is the only member of the monotypic subfamily '''Caracanthinae''', part of the family Scorpaenidae.

==Taxonomy== ''Caracanthus'' was first formally described as a monotypic genus in 1845 by the Danish zoologist Henrik Nikolai Krøyer when he described the new species the Hawaiian orbicular velvetfish (''Caracanthus typicus'').<ref name = CofF/> The genus is the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Caracanthinae within the family Scorpaenidae. Molecular studies have found that the Caracanthinae should probably be treated as a tribe within the subfamily Scorpaeninae, or possibly included in the tribe Scorpaenini.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=468–475 |publisher=Wiley |ISBN=978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |archive-date=2019-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The genus name is a compound of ''cara'', meaning "head" and ''acanthus'', meaning "thorn" or "spine", an allusion to the strong spines on the infraorbital bone of ''C. typicus''.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes9/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 9): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Family Scorpaenidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 2 October 2021 | access-date = 13 March 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Characteristics== ''Caracanthus'' fishes have an oval, laterally compressed body which is covered in small, rough papillae with a small, terminal mouth. There is a single notch in the dorsal fin which has its origin on the nape and which contains between 6 and 8 spines and 11 and 14 soft rays. The anal fin has 2 spines and between 11 and 14 soft rays. There are 12 to 14 rays in the pectoral fins but the pelvic fins are small and barely noticeable, they have a single spine and 2 or 3 small soft rays. There are tiny scales on the head, each bearing a single spine.<ref name = Nelson5/> Like the related velvetfishes, they have a velvety skin. The small pectoral fins are used to wedge themselves into crevices in the coral.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor1=Paxton, J.R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W.N. |author= Eschmeyer, William N.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 176|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref> These small fishes vary in size from a maximum standard length of {{cvt|2.9|cm}} in ''C. typicus'' to a maximum total length of {{cvt|5|cm}} for the other 3 species.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Caracanthus|month=February|year=2022}}</ref>

== Species == There are currently four recognized species in this genus:<ref name = Fishbase/> * ''Caracanthus maculatus'' (J. E. Gray, 1831) (Spotted coral croucher) * ''Caracanthus madagascariensis'' (Guichenot, 1869) (Spotted croucher) * ''Caracanthus typicus'' Krøyer, 1845 (Hawaiian orbicular velvetfish) * ''Caracanthus unipinna'' (J. E. Gray, 1831) (Pygmy coral croucher)

==Distribution and habitat== ''Caracanthus'' fishes are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans where they are closely associated with coral, living among the coral branches.<ref name = Nelson5/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Caracanthinae Category:Marine fish genera Category:Taxa named by Henrik Nikolai Krøyer