{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic Taxobox | image = Cirujano barbero (Prionurus laticlavius), Los Cabos, Baja California, México, 2024-12-17, DD 62.jpg | image_caption = ''Prionurus laticlavius'' (razor surgeonfish) | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Prionurus | parent_authority = J. L. B. Smith, 1966 | authority = Lacépède, 1804 | type_species = ''Prionurus microlepidotus'' | type_species_authority = Lacépède, 1804<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Acanthuridae|access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref> |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 7, see text | synonyms = {{Genus list | Acanthocaulus | Waite, 1900 | Burobulla | Whitley, 1931 | Dasyacanthurus | Fowler, 1944 | Triacanthurodes | Fowler, 1944 | Xesurus | Jordan & Evermann, 1896 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/> }}
'''''Prionurus''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs, although some of the species in this genus are called sawtails or doctorfish. The species in this genus are found in the Pacific Ocean with one species, ''P. biafraensis'', found in the Atlantic Ocean.
==Taxonomy== ''Prionurus'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1804 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède when he described ''Prionurus microlepidotus''.<ref name = CofF/> Lacépède did not give a type locality but the type was collected by François Péron off New South Wales.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Prionurus|access-date=2 August 2023}}</ref> The genus ''Prionurus'' is the only genus in the tribe Prionurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamiles in the family Acanthuridae.<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= 497–502 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 978-1-118-34233-6 }}</ref>
==Etymology== ''Prionurus'' means "sawtail" a reference to the 3 to 7 immobile keeled bony plates on each side of the caudal peduncle.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/acanthuriformes2/ | title = Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 12 January 2021 | access-date = 2 August 2023 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
==Species== There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Prionurus|month=June|year=2023}}</ref> * ''Prionurus biafraensis'' <small>(Blache & Rossignol, 1961)</small> - Biafra doctorfish * ''Prionurus chrysurus'' <small>J. E. Randall, 2001</small> * ''Prionurus laticlavius'' <small>(Valenciennes, 1846)</small> - razor surgeonfish * ''Prionurus maculatus'' <small>J. D. Ogilby, 1887</small> - yellowspotted sawtail * ''Prionurus microlepidotus'' <small>Lacépède, 1804</small> - sixplate sawtail * ''Prionurus punctatus'' <small>T. N. Gill, 1862</small> - yellowtail surgeonfish * ''Prionurus scalprum'' <small>Valenciennes, 1835</small> - scalpel sawtail
==Characteristics== ''Prionurus'' species have oval, compressed bodies with a steep angle on the head above the snout. The small mouth is protrusible and is positioned low on the head. The teeth are set closely together and are moderately large, flattened and have serrated edges. They have 8 or 9 spines in the dorsal fin and 3 spines in the anal fin. The caudal peduncle has between 3 and 7 bony plates with sharp keels on each side.<ref name = STRI>{{cite web |url=https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/en/thefishes/taxon/2163 |title=Genus: Prionurus, Surgeonfishes, Sawtails |access-date=2 August 2023 |work=Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system |publisher=Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute}}</ref> The spined keels in the caudal peduncle are immobile in this genus compared to mobile ones in other surgeonfishes.<ref name = Nelson5/> These fishes vary in their maximum published total lengths from {{cvt|20|cm}} in ''P. biafraensis'' to {{cvt|70|cm}} in ''P. microlepidotus''.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution== ''Prionurus'' have a predominantly Pacific range with six of the seven species being found in the Pacific Ocean,<ref name = Fishbase/> two of these, ''P. laticlavus'' and ''P. punctatus'' being endemic to the eastern Pacific<ref name = STRI/> and one, ''P. biafraensis'', being endemic to the Eastern Atlantic.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Prionurus Category:Acanthuridae Category:Marine fish genera Category:Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède