Ctenochaetus
Genus of fishes
title: "Ctenochaetus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["acanthurini", "ctenochaetus", "marine-fish-genera", "taxa-named-by-theodore-gill", "taxa-described-in-1884"] description: "Genus of fishes" topic_path: "general/acanthurini" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctenochaetus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of fishes ::
| image = Butterfly Pavilion 8-23 (20915221696) (cropped).jpg | image_caption = Ctenochaetus strigosus | taxon = Ctenochaetus | authority = T. N. Gill, 1884 | type_species = Acanthurus strigosus | type_species_authority = E. T. Bennett 1828 | synonyms = {{Genus list | Acronurus | Günther, 1861 | Ctenodon | Klunzinger, 1871 | synonyms_ref = | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text
Ctenochaetus, or bristletooth tangs, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region. They have many, small flexible teeth and some species have the common name bristletooth.
Taxonomy
Ctenochaetus was first proposed as a genus in 1884 by the American biologist Theodore Gill with Acanthurus strigosus as its type species.
Paraphyly
It has been proposed that this genus and Acanthurus should be merged as otherwise Acanthurus is paraphyletic. Ctenochaetus species all nest within Acanthurus, while A. nubilus and A. pyroferus are furthermore nested within Ctenochaetus. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World recognises these two genera as valid and classifies them as the two genera in the tribe Acanthurini of the subfamily Acanthurinae within the family Acanthuridae.
Etymology
Ctenochaetus Is a compound of cteno, meaning “bristle”, and chaetus, meaning “comb”. Gill did not explain what this alluded to but it is almost certain to allude to the bristle or comb like teeth of these fishes.
Species
Ctenochaetus currently has nine recognised species classified within it: ::data[format=table title=""]
| Species | Common name | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Ctenochaetus binotatus | Twospot surgeonfish | [[File:Ctenochaetus binotatus 13376118 (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus cyanocheilus | Short-tail bristle-tooth | [[File:Ctenochaetus cyanocheilus (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus flavicauda | Whitetail bristletooth | [[File:Whitetail Bristletooth, Toau, Fakarava, French Polynesia imported from iNaturalist photo 302036167 (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis | Chevron tang | [[File:Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, Samoa (cropped).gif |
| Ctenochaetus marginatus | Striped-fin surgeonfish | [[File:Ctenochaetus marginatus 466048478 (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus striatus | Striated surgeonfish | [[File:Cirujano estriado (Ctenochaetus striatus), parque nacional Ras Muhammad, Egipto, 2022-03-30, DD 01 (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus strigosus | Kole tang | [[File:Goldring Surgeonfish (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus tominiensis | Tomini surgeonfish | [[File:Ctenochaetus tominiensis (cropped).jpg |
| Ctenochaetus truncatus | Indian gold-ring bristle-tooth | [[File:CtenochaetusTruncatus, Sudáfrica (cropped).jpg |
| :: |
Characteristics
Ctenochaetus surgeonfishes are closely related to the surgeonfishes in the genus Acanthurus and are very similar to them. They have a different jaw structure from the Acanthurus surgeonfishes having numerous brush or bristle like flexible teeth. Their dorsal fin is supported by 8 spines and between 24 and 31 soft rays while their anal fins are supported by 3 spines and between 22 and 28 soft rays. These fish vary in length from a maximum published standard length of 15 cm in C. strigosus to a maximum published total length of 27 cm in C. marginatus.
Distribution
Ctenochaetus surgeonfishes have a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. They are found from the eastern coast of Africa, including the Red Sea eastwards through the tropical Indian Ocean into the Pacific Ocean as far east as Hawaii.
References
References
- {{Cof family
- Bennett, E. T.. (1828). "Observations on the fishes contained in the collection of the Zoological Society. On some fishes from the Sandwich Islands.". Zoological Journal, London.
- (2013). "A multi-locus timetree of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae, Percomorpha), with revised family taxonomy". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2016). "Fishes of the World". Wiley.
- (12 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
- {{FishBase genus. (2023)
- [[John E. Randall]]. (2022). "Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean". South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.
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