Atherion elymus

Atherion elymus, the bearded silverside or pickleface hardyhead,[2] is a species of silverside from the family Atherionidae. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean.

Atherion elymus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Atheriniformes
Family: Atherionidae
Genus: Atherion
Species:
A. elymus
Binomial name
Atherion elymus

Description

Atherion elymus has an elongated, compressed bosy with a small month in which the upper jaw does not extend as far as the front egde of the eye. The head has a number of rows of denticles or small spines. Its anus sits immediately in front of the origin of the anal fin. The colouration is greenish gray on the back and whitish on the underside with a wide silvery band along the flanks which extends to the caudal fin. Small dark or black spots are normally scattered along the lower part of the flanks. They grow to a maximum standard length of around 7 centimetres (2.8 in).[3]

Distribution

Atherion elymus occurs in the western Pacific Ocean from Japan in the north south to northern Queensland and east as far as Fiji.[1]

Habitat and biology

Atherion elymus is a species if shallow water and is associated with reefs, large aggregations can be found in tidal pools, along rocky coastlines and along the edges of reefs.[4] It lays large eggs which adhere to the substrate by a sticky filament.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described by David Starr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks in 1901 from a type locality of Misaki in the Kanagawa Prefecture in the coast of the Sagami Sea in Japan.[5] Jordan and Starks gave it the specific name elymus as the rough denticles around its mouth bear a resemblance to the seed heads of the rye grasses of the genus Elymus.[6] It is the type species of the genus Atherion.[7]

References
  1. Fricke, R. & Kimura, S. (2010). "Atherion elymus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T155153A4730539. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T155153A4730539.en.
  2. "Atherion elymus". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. "Atherion elymus Jordan and Starks, 1901 Bearded Silverside". Fishes of the Andaman Sea. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Atherion elymus" in FishBase. April 2019 version.
  5. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Atherion elymus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  6. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (1 January 2019). "Order ATHERINIFORMES: Families ATHERINOPSIDAE, ATHERINIDAE and ATHERIONIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  7. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Atherion". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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