| Distribution |
Chiefly tropical and temperate. Distribution: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Dorsal fin tripartite, the first two segments spinous; the third with at least 7 soft rays. Spines in anal fin 0-2, usually 1 or 2. Pelvic fin jugular with a small spine. Branchiostegal rays 6 or 7. Nape without cirri. Usually ctenoid scales, bearing radii anteriorly only. First gill arch with a membranous attachment to operculum. One special feature reported for the group is that the pterygiophore supporting first segmented dorsal fin ray does not support a dorsal fin spine; three or more other pterygiophores preceed said pterygiophore. Typically elongate; with scales on the sides of the body; several genera with blunt, rounded heads, others with more slender, pointed heads; may bear a tubular extension on the anterior nostril; may have incomplete scalation with naked strips along the dorsal-fin base and the belly; head often scaleless, but may have patches of scales in some genera; lateral line typically discontinuous, with an anterior series of pored scales, and a posterior, lower series of notched scales; lateral line reduced to a single, pored series; anterior and middle dorsal fins often consisting of flexible spines, while the posterior dorsal fin has unbranched, segmented rays, the last divided at its base; dorsal fin divided, spinous and soft dorsal fins separate; dorsal fin divided into three sections, two spinous, one segmented; dorsal fin spines outnumbering segmented rays; branched or simple segmented dorsal-fin rays; posterior most first dorsal-fin pterygiophore supporting 1 or 2 fin ray elements; with or without an autogenous bony stay after the posterior most dorsal-fin pterygiophore; anal fins with 14 to 32 segmented rays; anal-fin spines of mature males lacking fleshy bulbous swellings; posterior most anal fin pterygiophore supporting 1 or 2 fin ray elements; autogenous bony stay present or absent following the posterior most anal-fin pterygiophore; with or without branched pectoral-fin rays; dorsal most pectoral-fin ray totally or partially articulating with scapula; coracoid autogenous; some caudal-fin rays branched; ventral hypural plate autogenous; hypural 5 present (most genera) or absent; lateral line contained on scales with free posterior margins (scales not embedded, not covered by a bone); lateral line extending half or more of the length of the body; no rostral cartilage; with or without septal bone; ecto- and mesopterygoids autogenous; posterior end of the interopercle extending posteriorly, past the posterior end of epihyal; premaxillae protractile; no distinct enlarged canine teeth in posterior jaw area; free margins of lips entire (as opposed to fimbriate, crenulate, or with lappets); membrane uniting first gill arch to the operculum; no cordlike ligament extending from the dorsoposterior portion of each ceratohyal to anteriormedial end of its respective dentary; urohyal with no vertical pair of processes on each side; gill membranes broadly attached to isthmus; free bony margins of opercular bones not fimbriate; with 4 - 5 infraorbital bones; with or without palatine teeth; anterior ends of pelvises not extending anteriorly past their juncture with the cleithra; sensory canals of infraorbital bones and preopercle unroofed by bone (except Notoclinus) (Ref. 94101). About 25 cm maximum length, mostly below 6 cm. Cryptic bottom dwellers that feed on small invertebrates. Males attract females to nesting sites (Ref. 7463) Associated with hard, ideally rough substrates, mainly rock; most species live subtidally on rocky or coral reefs or in intertidal rock pools; a few occur deeper, on the continental shelf and other slopes down to at least 550 m depth; mostly in sea shores and offshore islands (Ref. 94101). Eggs are hemispherical and covered with numerous sticky threads that anchor them in the algae on the nesting sites (Ref. 240). Larvae are planktonic which occur primarily in shallow, nearshore waters |
Rosy Dragonet 