Congiopodus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Congiopodus spinifer 1.jpg | image_caption = Spinenose horsefish ''(C. spinifer)'' | image2 = Agriopus torvus - MHNT - ICHT.1995.111.jpg | image2_caption = Smooth horsefish (''C. torvus'') | parent_authority = Gill, 1889 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Congiopodus | authority = Perry, 1811<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Congiopodidae|access-date=19 May 2022}}</ref> | type_species = ''Congiopodus percatus'', a synonym of ''Blennius torvus'' | type_species_authority = Perry, 1811<ref name = CofF/> }}

'''''Congiopodus''''', commonly known as '''pigfishes, horsefishes''' and '''racehorses'',''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, the only genus in the family '''Congiopodidae'''. These fishes are found in the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.<ref name=":132">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== Congiopodus was first formally described as a genus in 1811 by the English naturalist George Perry when he described ''Congiopodus percatus'', the type species by monotypy. Subsequently, Perry's species was shown to be a junior synonym of ''Blennius torvus'' which had been described by the Dutch zoologist Laurens Theodorus Gronow in 1772, with an erroneous type locality of the Indian Ocean given for this southern African species.<ref name = CofF/><ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Congiopodus|access-date=19 May 2022}}</ref>

The genus is the type genus of the family Congiopodidae. In the past, three other genera (''Perryena'', ''Alertichthys'', and ''Zanclorhynchus'') were classified in this family,<ref name="Nelson5">{{cite book |author1=J. S. Nelson |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |title=Fishes of the World |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |edition=5th |pages=475 |access-date=2022-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |archive-date=2019-04-08 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but more recent authorities have found such a placement to be paraphyletic and regard this family as monogeneric.<ref name="CofF" /><ref name="CofF22">{{Cof family|family=Congiopodidae|access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> The family is placed in the suborder Scorpaenoidei which in turn is classified within the order Scorpaeniformes in that book, but more recent authorities classify Scorpaenoidei within the Perciformes.<ref name="Deepfin">{{cite journal | author1 = Ricardo Betancur-R | author2 = Edward O. Wiley | author3 = Gloria Arratia | author4 = Arturo Acero | author5 = Nicolas Bailly | author6 = Masaki Miya | author7 = Guillaume Lecointre | author8 = Guillermo Ortí | display-authors = 3 | title =Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 17 | issue = 162 | year = 2017 | page = 162 | doi = 10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3 | pmid = 28683774 | pmc = 5501477 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

The name of the genus was not explained by Perry but may be a combination of the Greek ''gongulos'', meaning "round", and ''podus'', which means "foot", maybe referring to the roundish pelvic fins of ''C. percatus''.<ref name="ETYFish">{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes10/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 10): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Families Apistidae, Tetrarogidae, Synanceiidae, Aploacrinidae, Perryenidae, Eschmeyeridae, Pataecidae, Gnathanacanthidae, Congiopodidae and Zanclorhynchidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 10 March 2022 | access-date = 19 May 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Species== There are currently six recognised species in this genus:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Congiopodus| month = February | year = 2022}}</ref> * ''Congiopodus coriaceus'' Paulin & Moreland, 1979 (Deepsea pigfish) * ''Congiopodus kieneri'' (Sauvage, 1878) * ''Congiopodus leucopaecilus'' (J. Richardson, 1846) (Southern pigfish) * ''Congiopodus peruvianus'' (G. Cuvier, 1829) (Horsefish) * ''Congiopodus spinifer'' (A. Smith, 1839) (Spinenose horsefish) * ''Congiopodus torvus'' (Gronow, 1772) (Smooth horsefish)

==Characteristics== ''Congiopodus'' pigfishes have a compressed body with a prominent snout, a terminal mouth and a single nostril on each side. It has small gill openings over the pectoral fins. They sometimes have no scales and, if they are present, they are tiny and spiny. The pelvic and pectoral fins have narrow bases and few unbranched fin rays. There are no sharp spines in the anal fin while the dorsal fin has between 14 and 21 spines and 11 and 14 soft rays.<ref name = Paulin1979>{{cite journal | author1 = C.D. Paulin | author2 = J.M. Moreland | name-list-style = and | year = 1979 | title = ''Congiopodus coriaceus'', a new species of pig fish, and a redescription of ''C. leucopaecilus'' (Richardson), from New Zealand (Pisces: Congiopodidae) | journal = New Zealand Journal of Zoology | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = 601–608 | doi = 10.1080/03014223.1979.10428402 | doi-access = free }}</ref> These are medium sized fishes with the largest species being ''C. torvus'' which has a maximum published total length of {{cvt|76|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution and habitat== ''Congiopodus'' pigfishes are found in the southern Pacific and southern Atlantic Oceans.<ref name = Fishbase/> They are demersal fishes with some species in shallow coastal waters and others living in deeper waters.<ref name = Macmillan>{{cite book | author1 = McMillan, P.J. | author2 = Francis, M.P.| author3 = James, G.D.| author4 = Paul, L.J.| author5 = Marriott, P.J | author6 = Mackay, E. | author7 = Wood, B.A. | author8 = Griggs, L.H. | author9 = Sui, H. |author10 = Wei, F. | display-authors = 3 | year = 2011 | title = New Zealand fishes. Volume 1: A field guide to common species caught by bottom and midwater fishing | series = New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report | issue = 68 | publisher = Ministry of Fisheries | issn = 1176-9440 | pages = 198–200}}</ref>

== Biology == One Congiopodid, ''Congiopodus peruvianus'', is found in the shallow South American waters. In this species the adult's dorsal fin is relatively shorter than the juvenile's fin, but they all resemble yellow and orange dead tree leaves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Betti, F., Daneri, G. |date=2020 |title=Leaf-like morphology and behaviour of juvenile horsefish (Congiopodus peruvianus) (Scorpaeniformes: Congiopodidae) from Chilean Patagonia. |journal=Mar Biodiv |volume=49 |issue=6 |pages=2493–2494 |bibcode=2019MarBd..49.2493B |doi=10.1007/s12526-019-01019-w}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|position=left|Congiopodus}}

Category:Congiopodidae Category:Taxa named by George Perry (naturalist) Category:Congiopodus