Animalia > Chordata > Perciformes > Ephippidae

Ephippidae (spadefishes)

Synonyms: Ephippididae; Rhinoprenidae

Wikipedia Abstract

Ephippidae is a family containing the spadefishes, with about eight genera and a total of 20 marine species. Well-known species include the Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) and the reef-dwelling genus Platax, the batfishes, which are kept as aquarium fish. They are spade-shaped and laterally compressed, and have very symmetrical, triangular dorsal and anal fins. They are shiny silver with areas of yellow and vertical brown or black banding. The eyes are often located in one of the vertical bands as a method of camouflage. Scuba divers sometimes mistake them for angelfish, which are similar in shape, but not closely related. Other genera in the family are characterized by long, trailing, pointed dorsal and anal fins. Most species feed primarily on algae and small invertebrates.
View Wikipedia Record: Ephippidae

Genus

Archaephippus (1)
Chaetodipterus (spadefishes) (3)
Eoplatax (1)
Ephippus (8)
Laparon (1)
Parapsettus (Batfish) (1)
Platax (15)
Proteracanthus (Batfish) (1)
Rhinoprenes (Scat) (1)
Tripterodon (Spadefish) (1)
Whitephippus (1)
Zabidius (Batfish) (1)

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External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0