Ephippidae

---

title: "Ephippidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ephippidae", "acanthuriformes-families", "marine-fish-families", "taxa-named-by-pieter-bleeker"] description: "Family of fishes" topic_path: "general/ephippidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephippidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of fishes ::

| fossil_range = | image = Platax_teira.jpg | image_caption = Platax teira | taxon = Ephippidae | authority = Bleeker, 1859 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = see text

Ephippidae is a family of percomorph fishes, the spadefishes, in the suborder Moronoidei of the order Acanthuriformes. These fishes are found in the tropical and temperate oceans of the world, except for the central Pacific.

Taxonomy

Ephippidae was first proposed as a family in 1859 by the Dutch herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Other authorities place this family alongside the Drepaneidae in the order Ephippiformes with the Moronidae classified as incertae sedis in the series Eupercaria. Other authorities classify all three families in the Moroniformes sensu Fishes of the World in the Acanthuriformes.

Genera

Ephippidae contains the following genera, 8 extant and 3 extinct ( means extinct): | Archaephippus | Blot, 1969 | Chaetodipterus | Lacépède, 1802 | Eoplatax | Blot, 1969 | Ephippus | Cuvier, 1816 | Laparon | Casier, 1966 | Parapsettus | Steindachner, 1875 | Platax | Cuvier, 1816 | Proteracanthus | Günther, 1859 | Rhinoprenes | Munro, 1964 | Tripterodon | Playfair, 1867 | Zabidius | Whitley, 1930 The extinct genus Exellia is classified within the Ephippidae by some authorities, other authorities place it in the family Exellidae.

Characteristics

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/2016,_wakatobi,_teluk_maya,spade_fish_portrait(31350513061).jpg" caption="Close up Spadefish at [[Wakatobi National Park]], Maya bay,2016"] ::

Ephippidae spadefishes have deep, oval-shaped, laterally compressed bodies with a short head and small terminal mouth. There are bands of brush like teeth on the jaws but there are no teeth on the roof of the mouth. The preoperculum has a finely serrated margin. There is a single dorsal fin which has 9 spines and between 21 and 28 soft rays, with the spiny portion of the fin being low. The front part of the soft part of the dorsal fin and the anal fin are elongated. The anal fin has 3 spines and between 16 and 24 soft rays. The pectoral fins are short and the pelvic fins are long and are beneath the pectoral fins. The caudal fin is slightly concave, They have complete lateral line and the head, body and most of the fins are scaled. Young are frequently marked with black bars. The largest species is the Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) which has a maximum published total length of 91 cm while the smallest is the threadfin scat (Rhinoprenes pentanemus) which has a maximum published total length of 15 cm.

Distribution

Ephippidae fishes are found throughout the warmer waters of the world but are absent from the central Pacific. While Ephippidae spadefishes are common in the western Atlantic from New England to southern Brazil, adult spadefishes are difficult to harvest commercially due to their size and preferred habitats of submerged spaces, despite consumer appeal for its nutrients and quality of flesh.

Biology

Ephippidae spadefishes eat algae, benthic and planktonic invertebrates such as sponges, zoantharians, polychaete worms, gorgonians and tunicates. Overgrowth of seaweed among corals occurs as a result of overfishing of large fish species and inhibits the ability of coral to support life.

References

References

1. (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa.
2. (2016). "Fishes of the World". Wiley.
3. (2017). "Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology.
4. (2020). "GENERA/SPECIES BY FAMILY/SUBFAMILY IN Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes".
5. {{FishBase family. (2023)
6. {{Cof family
7. "Family Ephippidae (ray-finned fish)". Paleobiology Database.
8. (1995). "Phylogenetic Revision of the Fish Families Luvaridae and Kushlukiidae (Acanthuroidei), with a New Genus and Two New Species of Eocene Luvarids". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology.
9. "Family: EPHIPPIDAE, Spadefishes". Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
10. (January 2012). "Feeding Rate and Frequency Affect Growth of Juvenile Atlantic Spadefish". North American Journal of Aquaculture.
11. (July 2012). "Temperature Affects Growth and Tissue Fatty Acid Composition of Juvenile Atlantic Spadefish". North American Journal of Aquaculture.
12. [https://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn10819 Batfish may come to the Great Barrier Reef's rescue]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::