Acanthurus: Difference between revisions

''Acanthurus'' was first proposed as a [[subgenus]] of ''[[Chaetodon]]'' in 1775 by the [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland|Swedish-speaking Finnish]] [[exploration|explorer]], [[oriental studies|orientalist]] and [[natural history|naturalist]] [[Peter Forsskål]], although he recognised that it was probably disfferent from Chaetodon even at the family level. In 1856 [[Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest|Desmarest]] designated ''Teuthis hepatus'', which had been [[Species description|described]] from a [[Type (biology)|type]] now known to have been collected at Ambon Island in the Moluccas (other erroneous type localities were named) in 1758 by Linnaeus, as the type species of the genus.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Acanthuridae|access-date=28 August 2023}}</ref><ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Acanthurus|access-date=28 August 2023}}</ref> ''T. hepatus'' is a [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonym]] of ''[[Paracanthurus hepatus]]'' and this would make ''Paracanthurus'' synonymous with ''Acanthurus''. An alternative would be to use the name ''Harpurus'' proposed as a [[monospecific genus]] in 1788 by [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] when he described ''Harpurus fasciatus'', a synonym of ''Acanthurus triostegus''. It has been proposed that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature should be petitioned to stabilise the genera ''Acanthurus'' and ''Paracanthurus''.<ref name = Fricke>{{cite journal |author=[[Ronald Fricke]] |year=2008 |title=Authorship, availability and validity of fish names described by Peter (Pehr) Simon Forsskål and Johann Christian Fabricius in the 'Descriptiones animalium' by Carsten Niebuhr in 1775 (Pisces) |journal=Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde A, Neue Serie. |volume=1 |pages=1-76 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235686196_Authorship_availability_and_validity_of_fish_names_described_by_Peter_Pehr_Simon_Forsskal_and_Johann_Christian_Fabricius_in_the_'Descriptiones_animalium'_by_Carsten_Niebuhr_in_1775_Pisces}}</ref> In 2014 it was proposed that the type species of Acanthurus should be ''Chaetodon sohal'' which had also been described by Forsskål in 1775 as a member of the subgenus alongsie ''C. bifasciatus'', ''C. nigrofuscus'', ''C. sohal'' and ''C. unicornis'' and proposed as the type species by [[David Starr Jordan|Jordan]] and [[Barton Warren Evermann|Evermann]] in 1917.<ref name = Demirjian>{{cite journal| author=Vahe D. Demirjian | year=2014 |title=''Acanthurus'' Forsskål, 1775 (Osteichthyes, ACANTHURIDAE): proposed conservation by designation of Chaetodon sohal Forsskål, 1775 as the type species |journal=Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=81-83 |url=https://www.biotaxa.org/bzn/article/view/38106/32702}}</ref>

It has been proposed that the genus ''[[Ctenochaetus]]'' should be merged with ''Acanthurus'' as otherwise ''Acanthurus'' is [[paraphyletic]].<ref name = Sorenson>{{cite journal |author1=Laurie Sorenson |author2=Francesco Santini |author3=Giorgio Carnevale |author4=Michael E. Alfaro |title=A multi-locus timetree of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae, Percomorpha), with revised family taxonomy |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=68 |issue=1 |year=2013 |pages=150-160 |issn=1055-7903 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2013.03.014}}</ref> The 5th edition of ''[[Fishes of the World]]'' recognises these two genera as valid and classifies them as the two genera in the [[Tribe (biology)|tribe]] [[Acanthurini]] of the [[subfamily]] [[Acanthurinae]] within the family Acanthuridae.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=497-502 |publisher=Wiley |ISBN=978-1-118-34233-6}}</ref>