Shy hamlet

Shy hamlet
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Subfamily: Serraninae
Genus: Hypoplectrus
Species:
H. guttavarius
Binomial name
Hypoplectrus guttavarius
(Poey, 1852)
Synonyms[2]
  • Plectropoma guttavarium Poey, 1852
  • Hypoplectrus guttavarium (Poey, 1852)
  • Plectropoma accensum Poey, 1852
  • Hypoplectrus accensus (Poey, 1852)
  • Hypoplectrus pinnivaria Poey, 1868

The shy hamlet (Hypoplectrus guttavarius) is a small Western Atlantic serranid fish, which belongs to the subclass perciformes in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). To this date, seventeen species of the genus Hypoplectrus have been recognized, a third of which have been discovered in the past few years.[3]

They are synchronous hermaphrodites; ecologically and morphologically, all are remarkably similar in major features except for their color pattern which is how they are differentiated into different species.[4]

The name is derived from its personality because they are a solitary species that travel in pairs. They are mostly found in the Western Atlantic Ocean on Caribbean inshore areas in low depths (3–30 m or 10–100 ft) and in temperatures of about 22–27 °C (72–81 °F).[5] Their habitat is rocks and corals.[6] Hamlets are small and bright colored,[citation needed] specifically, shy hamlets have a yellow head and fins followed by a brown-black body. In addition, there are bright blue stripes around the eye and on the snout. They are carnivores and mostly feed on crustaceans such as shrimp, clam, squid etc. as well as other bony fish.[6]

Shy hamlets were first formally described as Plectropoma guttavarium in 1852 by the Cuban zoologist Felipe Poey (1799–1891) with Havana given as the type of locality.[2]

  1. ^ Anderson, W.; Carpenter, K.E.; Gilmore, G.; Milagrosa Bustamante, G.; Robertson, R. (2015). "Hypoplectrus guttavarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T16759093A16781783. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T16759093A16781783.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Hypoplectrus guttavarius year2019". FishBase.
  3. ^ Hench, K (October 2017). "Temporal changes in hamlet communities (Hypoplectrus spp., Serranidae) over 17 years". Journal of Fish Biology. 91 (5): 1475–1490. Bibcode:2017JFBio..91.1475H. doi:10.1111/jfb.13481. PMID 28994100.
  4. ^ Fischer, Eric A (December 1980). "Speciation in the Hamlets (Hypoplectrus: Serranidae): A Continuing Enigma". Copeia. 1980 (4): 649–659. doi:10.2307/1444441. JSTOR 1444441.
  5. ^ Holt, B.G; et al. (June 2010). "Signatures of Speciation? Distribution and Diversity of Hypoplectrus (Teleostei: Serranidae) Colour Morphotypes". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 19 (4): 432–441. Bibcode:2010GloEB..19..432H. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00539.x.
  6. ^ a b "Species: Hypoplectrus guttavarius, Shy Hamlet". Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved 15 March 2024.