Lithognathus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Miocene]] to Present<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |date=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |access-date=2008-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220223520/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archive-date=2009-02-20 }}</ref> | image = Mormora.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Lithognathus mormyrus]]'' | taxon = Lithognathus | authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1839<ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author=Bailly, Nicolas |year=2014 |id=126077 |title=''Lithognathus'' Swainson, 1839 |access-date=2015-05-24}}</ref> | type_species = ''[[White steenbras|Lithognathus capensis]]'' | type_species_authority = Swainson, 1839<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Sparidae|access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> | synonyms = * ''Pagrichthys'' [[Pieter Bleeker|Bleeker]], 1859 | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}

'''''Lithognathus''''' is a [[genus]] of marine [[Actinopterygii|ray-finned fish]] belonging to the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Sparidae]], which includes the seabreams and porgies. Species in this genus are given the common name of '''steenbras'''. The genus is found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean from southwestern Europe to South Africa and into the southwestern Indian Ocean.

==Taxonomy== ''Lithognathus'' was first proposed as [[taxon]] in 1839 by the English [[zoologist]] [[William Swainson]], Swainson named it as a [[Monotypy|monotypic]] [[subgenus]] of ''[[Pagellus]]'' with ''Pagellus (Lithognathus) capensis'' as its only species and, therefore, its [[type species]].<ref name = CofF/> Swainson's name is now understood to be a [[junior synonym]] of ''Pagrus lithognathus'' which had been [[Species description|described]] in 1829 by [[Georges Cuvier]], with its [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given as the [[Cape of Good Hope]].<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Lithognathus|access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> The genus ''Lithognathus'' 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 Pagellinae,<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== ''Lithognathus'' means "stone jaw", Swainson described the maxillaries as "thick, enlarged, and as hard as stone". It is not a [[tautonym]] as Swainson unnecessarily renamed Cuvier's ''Pagellus lithognathus'' as ''L. lithognathus''.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/acanthuriformes6/ |title=Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 6): Families GERREIDAE, LETHRINIDAE, NEMIPTERIDAE and SPARIDAE |date=12 January 2024 |access-date=29 January 2024 |author=Christopher Scharpf |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>

== Species == The [[World Register of Marine Species]] lists the following four species :<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Lithognathus|month=October|year=2024}}</ref> *''[[Lithognathus aureti]]'' [[J. L. B. Smith|Smith]], 1962 (West coast seabream) *''[[Lithognathus lithognathus]]'' (Cuvier, 1829) (White steenbras) *''[[Lithognathus mormyrus]]'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) (Sand steenbras) *''[[Lithognathus olivieri]]'' [[Michael Jon Penrith|Penrith]] & [[Mary-Louise Penrith|Penrith]], 1969 (Steenbras)

==Characteristics== ''Lithognathus'' steenbras breams are characterised by an oblong compressed, body with a long snout. The tips of the [[pectoral fin]]s extend almost as far as the origin of the [[anal fin]]. The teeth in the front of the jaws are small and arranged in bands with between 3 and 6 rows of [[Molar (tooth)|molar]]-like teeth in the upper jaw and between 2 and 4 rows in the lower jaw. In adults the [[maxilla]] does not extend as far as the anterior edge of the [[Orbit (anatomy)|orbit]], The scales on the head reach as far as the posterior edge of the orbit.<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 species in the genus is the [[white steenbras]] with a maximum published [[total length]] of {{cvt|200|cm}} while the smallest is the ''L. olivieri''.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution== ''Lithognathus'' steenbras breams occur in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean from southwestern Europe to South Africa and into the southwestern Indian Ocean.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==References== {{Commons category|Lithognathus}} {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Lithognathus| ]] [[Category:Sparidae]] [[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]] [[Category:Marine fish genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by William Swainson]] [[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]

[[Category:Spariform fish genera]]