| Hypsigenyinae Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) | |
.jpg)
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| Greenbone (Odax pullus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Labriformes |
| Family: | Labridae |
| Subfamily: | Hypsigenyinae Günther, 1861 |
| Genera | |
|
15-17, see text | |
The hypsigenyine wrasses or tuskfishes are saltwater fish of the subfamily Hypsigenyinae, a subgroup of the wrasse family (Labridae).[1] The group is circumglobal, being found in almost all the of world's shallow tropical marine waters, although some species are also found in temperate zones.[2] The former family Odacidae, containing the cales and weed whitings, is also now known to be nested within this subfamily.[3]
Taxonomy
editHypsigenyinae is the sister group to all other wrasse subfamilies. The group was first proposed in 1997. Since then, molecular phylogenetics has found that it also includes odacines and the genus Pseudodax. Odacines were once considered to be their own taxonomic family, but have been found nested deep within the hypsigenyine wrasses, and are the sister group to the hypsigenyine genus Choerodon.[2][4] Odacines remain a monophyletic group however.[4][5] Pseudodax was once considered to be the closest relative to parrotfish (tribe Scarini), but is now considered a basal hypsigenyine.[2]
Westneat & Alfaro (2005) and Hughes et al (2022) found that the hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) is the sister group to all other hypsigenyine wrasses. However, neither study examined the natal wrasse (Anchichoerops natalensis),[2][4] which was recovered as the actual sister group to all other hypsigenyine wrasses by Balwin et al (2023).[3]
Hypsigenyine wrasses exhibit several ancestral features shared with perciforms, but were subsequently lost in more derived wrasses. One example is the presence of vomerine teeth.[2] Hypsigenyine wrasses also have a derived trait, which is phyllodont dentition of the pharyngeal teeth, ie, these teeth develop stacked on top of each other, with only the uppermost teeth in the stack emerging.[6]
Unlike most wrasse groups, hypsigenyines are well-represented in the fossil record. The Italian fossil wrasse †Phyllopharyngodon is strongly supported to be a hypsigenyine because it exhibits phyllodont pharyngeal teeth like other members of the tribe,[6] and is about 50 million years old, dating to the Eocene.[2] The fossil genera Labrodon and Trigonodon are abundant in the Miocene of Europe.[7]
Odacine wrasses are found in coastal waters off Southern Australia and New Zealand. They include species that feed on small invertebrates, as well as herbivorous grazers, some of which are able to feed on chemically unpleasant varieties of kelp otherwise unpalatable to fish.[8]
Genera
editAs per Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2026):[9]
| Genus | Image | |
|---|---|---|
| Achoerodus T. N. Gill, 1863 | .jpg)
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| Anchichoerops Barnard, 1927 | ||
| Bodianus Bloch, 1790 | 
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| Choerodon Bleeker, 1840 | 
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| Decodon Günther, 1861 | 
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| Lachnolaimus G. Cuvier, 1829 | 
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| Polylepion M. F. Gomon, 1977 | 
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| Pseudodax Bleeker, 1861 | 
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| Terelabrus J. E. Randall & Fourmanoir, 1998 | 
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| Odacine
clade |
Haletta Whitley, 1947 | .jpg)
|
| Heteroscarus Castelnau, 1872 | 
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| Neoodax Castelnau, 1875 | .jpg)
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| Odax Valenciennes, 1840 |
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| Olisthops Richardson, 1850 | .jpg)
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| Sheardichthys Whitley, 1947 | .jpg)
| |
| Siphonognathus Richardson, 1858 | 
| |
References
edit- ^ "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification - California Academy of Sciences". www.calacademy.org. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Westneat, Mark W.; Alfaro, Michael E. (August 2005). "Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the reef fish family Labridae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 36 (2): 370–390. Bibcode:2005MolPE..36..370W. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.02.001. PMID 15955516.
- ^ a b Baldwin, Carole C.; Arcila, Dahiana; Robertson, D. Ross; Tornabene, Luke (2023-04-13). "Description of the First Species of Polylepion (Teleostei: Labridae) from the Atlantic Ocean with Analysis of Evolutionary Relationships of the New Species". Ichthyology & Herpetology. 111 (2): 182–190. doi:10.1643/i2022075. ISSN 2766-1512.
- ^ a b c Hughes, Lily C; Nash, Chloe M; White, William T; Westneat, Mark W (2023-05-01). "Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae)". Systematic Biology. 72 (3): 530–543. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syac072. ISSN 1063-5157. PMID 36331534.
- ^ Clements, Kendall D; Alfaro, Michael E; Fessler, Jennifer L; Westneat, Mark W (August 2004). "Relationships of the temperate Australasian labrid fish tribe Odacini (Perciformes; Teleostei)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 32 (2): 575–587. Bibcode:2004MolPE..32..575C. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.02.003. PMID 15223039.
- ^ a b Bellwood, David R.; Schultz, Ortwin; Siqueira, Alexandre C.; Cowman, Peter F. (2019). "A review of the fossil record of the Labridae". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 121: 125–194. ISSN 0255-0091. JSTOR 26595690.
- ^ Bellwood, David R.; Schultz, Ortwin; Siqueira, Alexandre C.; Cowman, Peter F. (2019). "A review of the fossil record of the Labridae". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 121: 125–194. ISSN 0255-0091. JSTOR 26595690.
- ^ Choat, J.W. & Bellwood, D.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. xxx. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Hypsigenyinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
