Pterois russelii, the largetail turkeyfish, plaintail firefish, plaintail turkeyfish, Russell's firefish, Russell's lionfish, spotless butterfly-cod or the spotless firefish, is a species of ray-finned fish with venomous spines belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and lionfishes. It is native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean from the eastern part of Africa to the Persian Gulf.
| Pterois russelii | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
| Family: | Scorpaenidae |
| Genus: | Pterois |
| Species: | P. russelii
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| Binomial name | |
| Pterois russelii E. T. Bennett, 1831
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| Synonyms[2][3] | |
Taxonomy edit
Pterois russelii was first formally described in 1831 by the English naturalist Edward Turner Bennett with the type locality given as Coromandel Coast in India.[4] Molecular studies, and some morphological data too, have indicated that this species and the luna lionfish (P. lunulata) are the same species, P. russelii.[5] The specific name honours the Scottish surgeon and herpetologist Patrick Russell , who had illustrated and described, without naming, this species in 1803. Bennett, misspelt Russell's name by leaving out the final l, as Cuvier and Valenciennes did on a consistent basis.[6]
Description edit
Pterois russelii has 13 spines and between 10 and 12 soft rays in its dorsal fin and 3 spines and 7 or 8 soft rays in its anal fin.[3] It has a whitish body striped vertically with reddish brown.[7] This species has no rows of small dark spots on the soft dorsal, anal and caudal fins which are a feature of related species, and it has comparatively short dorsal-fin spines.[8] The maximum published standard length of Russell's lionfish is 30 cm (12 in).[3]
Distribution and habitat edit
Pterois russelii has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the coast of eastern Africa as far south as South Africa. It then occurs from Oman east to Japan and Australia.[1] It has been recorded in the Red Sea but this was only confirmed in 2016.[9] In Australian waters Russell's lionfish is found from the Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia around the northern tropical coasts to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.[8] It occurs at depths of 15 to 60 m (49 to 197 ft),[3] where it is found in areas of muddy substrate in shletered shallow estuaries, bays and coastal waters down to deeper waters in quiet offshore reefs.[8]
Biology edit
Pterois russelii is a solitary species which has venom bearing spines.[3] It feeds on smaller fishes, crabs and shrimp.[7]
Utilisation edit
Pterois russelii is infrequently found in the aquarium trade.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b Motomura, H. & Matsuura, K. (2016). "Pterois russelii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T50903260A54145434. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T50903260A54145434.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- ^ Allen, Gerald R.; Erdmann, Mark V. (23 January 2008). "Pterois andover, a new species of scorpionfish (Pisces: Scorpaenidae) from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea" (PDF). Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology. Special Publication. 13 (3–4): 137. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Pterois russelii" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Pterois". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ Christie L Wilcox; Hiroyuki Motomura; Mizuki Matsunuma; Brian W Bowen (2018). "Phylogeography of Lionfishes (Pterois) Indicate Taxonomic Over Splitting and Hybrid Origin of the Invasive Pterois volitans". Journal of Heredity. 109 (2): 162–175. doi:10.1093/jhered/esx056.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (2 October 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 9): Suborder Scorpaenoidei: Family Scorpaenidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Bob Goemans (2012). "Pterois russelii". Saltcorner Fish Library. Bob Goemans. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Bray, D.J. (2017). "Pterois russelii". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Matsunuma, Mizuki; Bogorodsky, Sergey; Motomura, Hiroyuki & Mal, Ahmad (2016). "Objective record of Pterois russelii (Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae) from the Red Sea". Cybium: international journal of ichthyology. 40: 333–337.
External links edit
Media related to Pterois russelii at Wikimedia Commons- Photos of Pterois russelii on Sealife Collection
