Piper gurnard

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|14|0|Middle Miocene to present}} | image = Trigla lyra.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Nunoo, F. |author2=Poss, S. |author3=Bannermann, P. |author4=Russell, B. |name-list-style=& |year=2015 |title=Trigla lyra |article-number=e.T198756A15598070 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T198756A15598070.en |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> | parent_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Trigla lyra | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | synonyms = * ''Trigla fagianus'' Rafinesque, 1810 | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus|Trigla|access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> }} The '''piper gurnard''' ('''''Trigla lyra'''''), also known as the '''piper''' or the '''lyre gurnard''', is a species of marine, demersal ray-finned fish from the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus '''''Trigla'''''.

==Taxonomy== The piper gurnard was first formally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae with its type locality given as "British Seas".<ref name = CofF/> It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Trigla'' which is classified within the subfamily Triglinae, within the family Triglidae.<ref name = Fishbase>{{Fishbase|Trigla|lyra|month=February|year=2022}}</ref> In 1883 David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert designated this species as the type species of the genus ''Trigla'', which was not thought to be monotypic at that time.<ref name = Jordan1883>{{cite journal | author1 = Jordan, D. S. | author2 = C. H. Gilbert | name-list-style = and | year = 1883 | title = Synopsis of the fishes of North America | journal = Bulletin of the United States National Museum | issue = 16 | pages = 1–1018 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7557643#page/795/mode/1up}}</ref> The genus name, ''Trigla'', is a classical name for the red mullet (''Mullus barbatus''); Artedi thought the red mullet and the gurnards were the same because fishes from both taxa are known to create sounds taken out of the water as well as being red in colour. Linnaeus realised they were different and classified ''Trigla'' as a gurnard, in contradiction of the ancient usage. The specific name ''lyra'' means "lyre", an allusion Linnaeus did not explain; it may refer to the protuberances, plates and spines of the head together creating a lyre-like shape when looked at from above.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes12/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 12): Suborder Triglioidei: Families Triglidae and Peristediidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 10 June 2021 | access-date = 22 June 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

In addition to the extant piper gurnard, a few fossil ''Trigla'' species have also been described.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Geology |first=British Museum (Natural History) Department of |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalogue_of_the_Fossil_Fishes_in_the_Br/ZtEKAQAAIAAJ? |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini |last2=Woodward |first2=Arthur Smith |date=1901 |publisher=order of the Trustees |language=en}}</ref> †''Trigla licatae'' Sauvage, 1870 is known from an imperfect skeleton from the Late Miocene (Messinian) of Italy<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2002 |title=La crise messinienne et ses effets sur l'ichthyofaune néogène de la Méditerranée : le témoignage des squelettes en connexion de poissons téléostéens |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/geodiversitas/24/3/la-crise-messinienne-et-ses-effets-sur-l-ichthyofaune-neogene-de-la-mediterranee-le-temoignage-des-squelettes-en-connexion-de-poissons-teleosteens |journal=Geodiversitas |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=691–710}}</ref>, while †''Trigla infausta'' Heckel, 1861 is known from a partial articulated skeleton from the Leitha Limestone of Austria.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Denkschriften_der_Kaiserlichen_Akademie/KiBKAQAAMAAJ? |title=Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe |date=1861 |publisher=Aus der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei |language=de}}</ref> The placement of ''T. infausta'' as a species of ''Trigla'' is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmid |first=Hanns Peter |last2=Harzhauser |first2=Mathias |last3=Kroh |first3=Andreas |last4=Coric |first4=Stjepan |last5=Rögl |first5=Fred |last6=Schultz |first6=Ortwin |date=2000 |title=Hypoxic Events on a Middle Miocene Carbonate Platform of the Central Paratethys (Austria, Badenian, 14 Ma) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41702007 |journal=Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie |volume=102 |pages=1–49 |issn=0255-0091}}</ref> †''T. nardii'' de Bosniaski, 1878 is a ''nomen nudum'' from the Late Miocene of Italy, while †''T. simonellii'' Bonomi, 1896 from the Late Miocene of Italy is a small, indeterminate fish.<ref name=":0" />

==Description== The piper gurnard has a large head bearing numerous spines and ridges, but lacking a deep occipital groove. The first dorsal fin has between 8 and 10 spines, the forward edge of the first dorsal fin spine is smooth. Both the second dorsal and the anal fin contain 15 or 16 soft rays. There are no scales on the breast and the belly is only partially covered in scales. The scales in the lateral line are small and tubular.<ref name = MSIP>{{cite web | url = http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=fnam&id=2144 | title = Piper gurnard (''Trigla lyra'') | access-date = 22 June 2022 | author = J-C Hureau | work = Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean | publisher = Marine Species Identification Portal}}</ref> The caudal fin is slightly concave. The pelvic fins are well developed and have a single spine and 5 soft rays. The pectoral fins are even larger, reaching up to the front rays of the second dorsal fin and the lower 3 rays are separate, thickened and fingerlike, as is typical of the gurnards.<ref name = Monaco>{{cite web | url = https://www.monaconatureencyclopedia.com/trigla-lyra/?lang=en | title = ''Trigla lyra'' | author = Giuseppe Mazza | date = 9 August 2008 | access-date = 22 June 2022 | publisher = Monaco Nature Encyclopedia}}</ref> The upper body us red in colour while the lower body is pale. The anal and pectoral fin membranes are dusky, marked with small blue spots.<ref name = MSIP/> The maximum published total length for this species is {{cvt|60|cm}}, although {{cvt|30|cm}} is more usual.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution and habitat== The piper gurnard is found in the eastern Atlantic from Scotland south to Walvis Bay in Namibia, including the Macaronesian Islands and the Gulf of Guinea Islands, it is found in the Mediterranean Sea but not the Black Sea.<ref name = iucn/> It is a deepwater demersal fish found at depths as deep as {{cvt|700|m}} and prefers sandy and muddy substrates.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Biology== The piper gurnard has a diet dominated by crustaceans, especially the neritic species, like schools of shrimps, but also benthic species, such as crabs and hermit crabs. It will also eat echinoderms , particularly the brittle stars, polychaetes and the small benthic fishes. Sexual maturity is attained at around {{cvt|30|cm}} and the pelagic eggs are spawned in the summer months. The larvae are already armoured with bony plates and some spines. These fish may live for up to 7 years.<ref name = Monaco/>

==Fisheries== The piper gurnard is not targeted, and not exported, in the eastern central Atlantic but it is caught and consumed on local scales. However, in the Mediterranean this species is subjected to a commercial fishery and is a regular item for sale in markets in Morocco, Greece and Turkey, ad occasionally elsewhere. the flesh is sold fresh or refrigerated.<ref name = iucn/>

==See also== * List of prehistoric bony fish

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commonscat inline|Trigla lyra|''Trigla lyra''}} * [http://www.fishbase.org/identification/SpeciesList.php?genus=Trigla Fishbase]

Category:Triglinae Category:Fish of Africa Category:Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Fish of Europe Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Category:Fish of the North Sea Category:Fish described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus