Pseudotolithus

Taxonomy

Pseudotolithus was first proposed as a genus in 1863 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker when he described the new species P. brachygnathus, P. epipercus and P. typus. P. typus was designated as the type species by virtue of being named typus. Other workers have placed this tribe in the subfamily Pseudotolithinae alongside the tribe Miracorvini, Miracorvina and Pentheroscion. However, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise tribes or subfamilies within the Sciaenidae which it places in the order Acanthuriformes.

Etymology

Pseudotolithus prefixes Otolithus with pseudo meaning "false" due to Bleeker's perceived false resemblance between these fishes and those of that genus.

Species

Pseudotolithus has the following valid species classified within it:

• Pseudotolithus brachygnathus Bleeker, 1863
• Pseudotolithus elongatus (Bowdich, 1825) (bobo croaker)
• Pseudotolithus epipercus (Bleeker, 1863) (Guinea croaker)
• Pseudotolithus moorii (Günther, 1865) (Cameroon croaker)
• Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833) (cassava croaker)
• Pseudotolithus senegallus (Cuvier, 1830) (law croaker)
• Pseudotolithus typus (Bleeker, 1863) (longneck croaker)

Characteristics

Pseudotolithus croakers have a carrot-shaped swim bladder running the whole length of the body cavity with a pair of long tube-like appendages growing out of its front. These appendages branch into as many as 32 tubules. They do not have any barbels on the chin. The largest species in the genus is the law croaker (P. senegallus) which has a maximum published total length of 230 cm while the smallest is the bobo croaker (P. elongatus) at 47 cm.

Distribution

Pseudotolithus croakers are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from Morocco in the north to Angola in the south.

References

References

1. {{Cof family
2. Bleeker, P.. (1863). "''Mémoire sur les poissons de la côte de Guinée''". Natuurkundige Verhandelingen van de Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen te Haarlem (Ser. 2).
3. A. R. Longhurst. (1969). "A synopsis of biological data on West African croakers (Pseudotolithus typus, P. senegalensis and P. elongatus)". Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
4. Kunio Sasaki. (1989). "Phylogeny of the family Sciaenidae, with notes on its Zoogeography (Teleostei, Peciformes)". Memoirs of the Faculty of Fishes Hokkaido University.
5. (2016). "Fishes of the World". Wiley.
6. (9 March 2023). "Series Eupercaria (Incertae sedis): Families Callanthidae, Centrogenyidae, Dinopercidae, Emmelichthyidae, Malacanthidae, Monodactylidae, Moronidae, Parascorpididae, Sciaenidae and Sillagidae". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
7. {{FishBase genus. (2023)
8. {{Cof genus