Chloroscombrus
Encyclopedia
Chloroscombrus is a genus
containing two species
of tropical to temperate
water marine
fish
in the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae
. Both members are commonly known as bumpers or bumperfish, with one species endemic to the Atlantic and the other to the eastern Pacific. They have a convex ventral profile compared to most other carangids, with small oblique mouths and low dorsal and anal fins. Phylogenetic studies have found they are most closely related to the jacks of the genus Hemicaranx, with these genera plus Selar, Selaroides and possibly Alepes
making up a clade
within the Caranginae subfamily. They are predatory fish which live in both inshore and offshore environments ranging from estuaries to the edge of the continental shelf
, and are of moderate importance to fisheries.
. Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular information have placed Chloroscombrus in the subfamily Caranginae (or the tribe Carangini). The most recent phylogenetic study found the genus is very closely related to Hemicaranx, with the genera Selar, Selaroides and possibly Alepes
also placed in a clade within the Carangini. The study also strongly supported the monophyly of Chloroscombrus
Chloroscombrus was created by the French naturalist
Charles Frédéric Girard
in 1858 to accommodate a 'new' species he had described; Chloroscombrus caribbaeus, making this the original type species
. For some reason, probably a lack of a type specimen for C. carribaeus, David Starr Jordan
and Gilbert
redesignated Micropteryx cosmopolita as the type species of Chloroscombrus, which currently remains the accepted type species.
However, both these names were subsequently found to be junior synonyms of Linnaeus' Scomber chrysurus, effectively making Chloroscombrus chrysrus the type species. The name is derived from the Greek
words chloros; meaning green and skombros; meaning fish, particularly mackerel.
No species pertaining to Chloroscombrus are known from the fossil record, with FishBase
listing only two valid extant species. There are suggestions that the two species may be conspecific, although no detailed study has been undertaken to prove such a relationship.
, Selar crumenophthalmus, may be confused with the Pacific member of the genus. The distinguishing features of the genus include a more convex ventral profile than the dorsal profile, giving a very rounded underside appearance, a distinct black saddle on the upper part of the caudal peduncle, a small oblique mouth and a relatively small pupil diameter. The rest of the general body plan of the genus is similar to other carangids, with two separate, rather low dorsal fin
s; the first consisting of 8 spines and the second of 1 spine and 25 to 29 soft rays. The anal fin is also low, consisting of 2 detached spines anteriorly, followed by 1 spine and 25 to 29 soft rays. The lateral line
is moderately curved anteriorly, with 6 to 14 weak scute
s on the straight section. The chests are completely scaled, and the jaws contain bands of fine villiform teeth. The species are silvery in colour, with the dorsal surface ranging from blue-green to dark metallic blue. C. orqueta has a distinct black spot on the upper edge of the operculum
while C. chrysurus does not.. It is also known under local common name "plat plat".
waters of the Atlantic and east Pacific Ocean
s, with C. chrysurus inhabiting both the east Americas
n and west Africa
n/Europe
an coasts of the Atlantic and C. orqueta inhabiting the Central American coastline of the east Pacific.
Both species are schooling
coastal species, found on the continental shelf
leading pelagic lifestyles. They are commonly found in shallow water environments including beaches, lagoon
s and estuaries. They are also rarely found in open ocean environments, commonly associated with floating objects such as jellyfish
.
s and zooplankton
, with juveniles generally taking more planktonic prey than adults. Reproduction in the genus has been studied, as have the larva
l stages of both species, with juveniles often found in more oceanic waters.
No specific fishery
exists for either species, although they are taken by trawls, seine
s and hook and line methods, and sold fresh, salted or frozen at market
. Neither species are considered good gamefish, although are taken by anglers occasionally, and are considered rather dry table fishes.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
containing two species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of tropical to temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
water marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae
Carangidae
Carangidae is a family of fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, and scads.They are marine fish found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. Both members are commonly known as bumpers or bumperfish, with one species endemic to the Atlantic and the other to the eastern Pacific. They have a convex ventral profile compared to most other carangids, with small oblique mouths and low dorsal and anal fins. Phylogenetic studies have found they are most closely related to the jacks of the genus Hemicaranx, with these genera plus Selar, Selaroides and possibly Alepes
Alepes
Alepes is a genus containing five extant species of tropical marine fishes in the jack family, Carangidae. They are commonly known as scads, a term applied to many genera of carangid fishes. Their body form, however, differs from these other scads by being much more ovate in shape, more similar to...
making up a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
within the Caranginae subfamily. They are predatory fish which live in both inshore and offshore environments ranging from estuaries to the edge of the continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
, and are of moderate importance to fisheries.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Chloroscombrus is a genus containing two extant species. It is part of the jack family, Carangidae, a group of perciform fish in the suborder PercoideiPercoidei
Percoidei is one of eighteen suborders of bony fish in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are contained in this suborder, including the snappers, jacks, whitings, groupers, bass, perches and porgies.-Divisions:...
. Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular information have placed Chloroscombrus in the subfamily Caranginae (or the tribe Carangini). The most recent phylogenetic study found the genus is very closely related to Hemicaranx, with the genera Selar, Selaroides and possibly Alepes
Alepes
Alepes is a genus containing five extant species of tropical marine fishes in the jack family, Carangidae. They are commonly known as scads, a term applied to many genera of carangid fishes. Their body form, however, differs from these other scads by being much more ovate in shape, more similar to...
also placed in a clade within the Carangini. The study also strongly supported the monophyly of Chloroscombrus
Chloroscombrus was created by the French naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
Charles Frédéric Girard
Charles Frédéric Girard
Charles Frédéric Girard was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology.Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland as a student of Louis Agassiz. In 1847, he accompanied Agassiz as his assistant to Harvard...
in 1858 to accommodate a 'new' species he had described; Chloroscombrus caribbaeus, making this the original type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
. For some reason, probably a lack of a type specimen for C. carribaeus, David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
and Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He collected and studied fishes from Central America north to Alaska and described many new species...
redesignated Micropteryx cosmopolita as the type species of Chloroscombrus, which currently remains the accepted type species.
However, both these names were subsequently found to be junior synonyms of Linnaeus' Scomber chrysurus, effectively making Chloroscombrus chrysrus the type species. The name is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words chloros; meaning green and skombros; meaning fish, particularly mackerel.
No species pertaining to Chloroscombrus are known from the fossil record, with FishBase
FishBase
FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish species . It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web...
listing only two valid extant species. There are suggestions that the two species may be conspecific, although no detailed study has been undertaken to prove such a relationship.
Species
- Genus Chloroscombrus
- Atlantic bumperAtlantic bumperThe Atlantic bumper, Chloroscombrus chrysurus, is a game fish in the family, Carangidae. It was first described by the "father of modern taxonomy", Carl Linnaeus in the book, Systema Naturae...
, Chloroscombrus chrysurus (LinnaeusCarolus LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
, 1766). - Pacific bumper, Chloroscombrus orqueta JordanDavid Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
& Gilbert, 1883.
- Atlantic bumper
Description
Both species of Chloroscombrus are small to medium sized fishes, growing to maximum known lengths of around 30 cm (C. orqueta) and 65 cm (C. chrysurus). The genus is easily distinguished among most of the other carangid genera, although the bigeye scadBigeye scad
The bigeye scad is an oceanic fish that is found around the globe in tropical regions. Other common names include akule, chicharro, charrito ojón, purse-eye scad, coulirou, and goggle-eyed scad. Bigeye scads are fished commercially and are very important to aquaculture.Bigeye scads are blue-green...
, Selar crumenophthalmus, may be confused with the Pacific member of the genus. The distinguishing features of the genus include a more convex ventral profile than the dorsal profile, giving a very rounded underside appearance, a distinct black saddle on the upper part of the caudal peduncle, a small oblique mouth and a relatively small pupil diameter. The rest of the general body plan of the genus is similar to other carangids, with two separate, rather low dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
s; the first consisting of 8 spines and the second of 1 spine and 25 to 29 soft rays. The anal fin is also low, consisting of 2 detached spines anteriorly, followed by 1 spine and 25 to 29 soft rays. The lateral line
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
is moderately curved anteriorly, with 6 to 14 weak scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
s on the straight section. The chests are completely scaled, and the jaws contain bands of fine villiform teeth. The species are silvery in colour, with the dorsal surface ranging from blue-green to dark metallic blue. C. orqueta has a distinct black spot on the upper edge of the operculum
Operculum (fish)
The operculum of a bony fish is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
while C. chrysurus does not.. It is also known under local common name "plat plat".
Distribution and habitat
The two species in the genus are restricted to the tropical and temperateTemperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
waters of the Atlantic and east Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
s, with C. chrysurus inhabiting both the east Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
n and west Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n/Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an coasts of the Atlantic and C. orqueta inhabiting the Central American coastline of the east Pacific.
Both species are schooling
Shoaling and schooling
In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...
coastal species, found on the continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
leading pelagic lifestyles. They are commonly found in shallow water environments including beaches, lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s and estuaries. They are also rarely found in open ocean environments, commonly associated with floating objects such as jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
.
Biology and fishery
Both species of Chloroscombrus are predatory, taking a variety of small prey including fish, cephalopodCephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s and zooplankton
Zooplankton
Zooplankton are heterotrophic plankton. Plankton are organisms drifting in oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water. The word "zooplankton" is derived from the Greek zoon , meaning "animal", and , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"...
, with juveniles generally taking more planktonic prey than adults. Reproduction in the genus has been studied, as have the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
l stages of both species, with juveniles often found in more oceanic waters.
No specific fishery
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
exists for either species, although they are taken by trawls, seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
s and hook and line methods, and sold fresh, salted or frozen at market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. Neither species are considered good gamefish, although are taken by anglers occasionally, and are considered rather dry table fishes.