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Coral Reef Fish

Richness - Distribution - Life History - Diets - Taxonomy - Fish Families

5. Taxonomy - Who's who?

Kingdom:
ANIMALIA (animals)

Phylum:
CHORDATA (animals with a notochord - backbone-precursor)

Subphylum:
VERTEBRATA (animals with a backbone)

Class:
OSTEICHTHYES (bony fishes)

Subclass:
ACTINOPTERYGII (bony fishes with ray fins)

Order:
PERCIFORMES ('perch-like' fishes)

Here we will briefly describe some of the fish families that can be found on Hawai'i's coral reefs. We will describe the differences between families in terms of feeding habits, activity patterns (nocturnal - active at night; diurnal - active during the day), and spawning behavior. Of the bony fishes, those in the order Perciformes dominate the fish species found in coral reefs. These "perch-like" fishes include a wide variety of body forms and ecological roles. It is the largest vertebrate order, containing more than 150 families and over 8,000 species. This order includes such different types of fish as perch, groupers, barracudas, mackerels, tunas, swordfish, sailfish, cichlids and gobies.

There are eight Perciform families that exhibit a "complete" association with coral reefs. This means that their distribution matches that of coral reefs. These families are:

Labroid Families:
   Labridae   (Wrasses)
   Scaridae   (Parrotfishes)
   Pomacentridae   (Damelfishes)

Acanthuroid Families:
   Acanthuridae   (Surgeonfishes)
   Siganidae   (Rabbitfishes)
   Zanclidae   (Moorish Idols)

Chaetodontoid Families:
Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Pomacenthidae (Angelfishes)

Tetraodontiform Families:
   Tetraodontidae (puffers)
   Diodontidae (porcupinefishes)
   Balistidae (trigger fishes and file fishes)
   Molidae (molas)
   Ostraciidae (trunkfishes)
   Triacanthodidae (spikefishes)

Learn more about each of these families.


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