Xyrichtys splendens

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	PERCIFORMES	LABRIDAE

Scientific Name:

Xyrichtys splendens

Species Authority:

Castelnau, 1855

Common Name/s:

English	–	Green razorfish
Spanish	–	Cuchillo de lunar, Doncella de lunar, Lorito mordelon

Synonym/s:

Hemipteronotus splendens (Castelnau, 1855)

Hemipteronotus ventralis (Bean, 1891)

Xyrichthys splendens Castelnau, 1855

Xyrichtys ventralis Bean, 1891

Taxonomic Notes:

There is some taxonomic confusion between the species under Xyrichtys and Iniistius. The genus Iniistius has been considered a synonym of Xyrichtys by some authors but it is now recognized as a separate genus, distinct from Xyrichtys (Randall and Earle 2002, Randall et al. 2002). Seventeen species are included in Iniistius and they are: I. aneitensis, I. auropunctatus, I. baldwini, I. bimaculatus, I. cyanifrons, I. dea, I. evides, I. griffithsi, I. jacksoniensis, I. melanopus, I. pavo, I. pentadactylus, I. spilonotus, I. trivittatus, I. twistii, I. umbrilatus, and I. verrens.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	Rocha, L.
Reviewer/s:	Robertson, R. & Carpenter, K.E.
Contributor/s:
Justification: This species is widely distributed in the western tropical Atlantic. It is common throughout its range, and can be locally abundant. There are no known major threats. It is listed as Least Concern.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known from Bermuda and southern Florida (USA) to Brazil (including Fernando do Noronha and Trinidade Islands) (Bertoncini pers. comm. 2009), and throughout the Caribbean Sea.
Countries:	Native: Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Brazil; Cayman Islands; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guatemala; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Jamaica; Martinique; Mexico; Montserrat; Netherlands Antilles; Nicaragua; Panama; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; United States; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Atlantic – southwest; Atlantic – western central
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is common throughout its range, and can be abundant in sand bottoms adjacent to reefs.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is most common in shallow, sandy areas in and around seagrass beds and coral reefs to depths of 15 m. It prefers clear waters over sand and rubble bottoms adjacent to reefs. Species of Xyrichtys are called razorfish in allusion to their compressed bodies and the sharp leading edge of their forehead and snout, specialisations for quick entry into sand (Randall 2007).
Systems:	Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats known to this species.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats known to this species.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no specific conservation measures in place for this species. This species distribution overlaps several marine protected areas within its range. It is present in conservation areas throughout the Caribbean, USA and Brazil.

Conservation Actions:

There are no specific conservation measures in place for this species. This species distribution overlaps several marine protected areas within its range. It is present in conservation areas throughout the Caribbean, USA and Brazil.

Bibliography [top]

	Froese, R. and Pauly, D. 2009. Fishbase. World wide web publication. Available at: www.fishbase.org. IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010). Lieske, E and Myers, R.F. 1994. Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific and Caribbean including the Red Sea. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, USA. Randall, J.E. 2007. Iniistius griffithsi, a new razorfish (Perciformes: Labridae) from Mauritius. Smithiana Bulletin 7: 9-13.

Froese, R. and Pauly, D. 2009. Fishbase. World wide web publication. Available at: www.fishbase.org.

IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010).

Lieske, E and Myers, R.F. 1994. Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific and Caribbean including the Red Sea. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, USA.

Randall, J.E. 2007. Iniistius griffithsi, a new razorfish (Perciformes: Labridae) from Mauritius. Smithiana Bulletin 7: 9-13.

Citation:	Rocha, L. 2010. Xyrichtys splendens. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 23 May 2013.
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