Hypopterus macropterus
Encyclopedia
Hypopterus macropterus is a species
of marine
fish
in family
Latidae
of order
Perciformes
. The only species of genus
Hypopterus Gill, 1861, it is endemic
to coastal waters off western Australia
.
The species is in most respects similar to the Waigeo seaperch
(Psammoperca waigiensis), and it was originally described as P. macroptera in the same genus. Its current classification is not universally accepted, some authorities considering it to be identical to that the P. waigiensis.
The generic
name Hypopterus derives from the Greek
υπό (below) and πτερόν (wing or fin); the specific
epithet macroptera derives from the Greek μακρός (long) and πτερόν. The fish has no recorded English-language
common name.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of marine
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Latidae
Latidae
The Latidae are a family of perch-like fishes found in Africa and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The family, previously classified subfamily Latinae in family Centropomidae, was raised to family status in 2004 after a cladistic analysis showed the original Centropomidae was paraphyletic.Many...
of order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
. The only species of genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Hypopterus Gill, 1861, it is endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to coastal waters off western Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The species is in most respects similar to the Waigeo seaperch
Waigeo seaperch
The Waigeo seaperch is a species of marine fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. The only species of genus Psammoperca, it is native to tropical coastal waters from the Bay of Bengal south through Indonesia to northern Australia and north through the Philippines and the South China Sea to...
(Psammoperca waigiensis), and it was originally described as P. macroptera in the same genus. Its current classification is not universally accepted, some authorities considering it to be identical to that the P. waigiensis.
The generic
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
name Hypopterus derives from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
υπό (below) and πτερόν (wing or fin); the specific
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
epithet macroptera derives from the Greek μακρός (long) and πτερόν. The fish has no recorded English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
common name.