Family: KYPHOSIDAE, Sea chub, Sea-Chubs, Half Moons, Nibblers, Opaleyes, Rudderfishes
small head & mouth
FAMILY KYPHOSIDAE
SEA-CHUBS, HALF MOONS, NIBBLERS, OPALEYES, RUDDERFISHES
The sea-chubs are medium sized fishes (to 78 cm) with body moderately deep, oval, compressed; head small; mouth small, horizontal and opens at the front; the top jawbone slips partially under the under-eye bone when the mouth is closed; teeth incisiform, bases set horizontally in mouth, rounded tips and a curved, hockey-stick shape; dorsal fin continuous, XI-XIV spines that fold down into a scaly groove, no notch after spines; anal fin III spines; tail fin concave to forked; pectoral and pelvic fins relatively short; origin of the pelvics behind the base of the pectoral fin; scales small, thick and rough, covering the body and head (except the snout) and soft portions of the median fins.
The family is found circumglobally and contains about 53 species in 15 genera. In our region there are 2 W Atlantic and 2 near-circumtropical species in 1 genus.
PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER CARPENTER (2002)
