Lethrinus erythracanthus
species of emperor fish of the family Lethrinidae
Lethrinus erythracanthus, the orange-spotted emperor, orangefin emperor, and yellow-spotted emperor, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Taxonomy
Lethrinus erythracanthus was first formally described in 1830 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes with its type locality given as Luganor in the Caroline Islands. Some authors place the genus Lethrinus in the monotypic subfamily Lethrininae, with all the other genera of Lethrinidae placed in the Monotaxinae, however, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise the subfamilies traditionally accepted within the family Lethrinidae as valid. The family Lethrinidae is classified by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as belonging to the order Spariformes.
Etymology
Lethrinus erythracanthus has the specific name erythracanthus which combines erythros, meaning "red", with acanthus, which means "thorn", Valenciennes described this species as having beautiful red fin rays.
Description
Lethrinus erythracanthus is the largest of the 27 species in the genus Lethrinus. The body is dark brown-grey in colour with scatterd golden-orange spots. It has a short snout. Present on the body are small, light and dark stripes that appear indistinct.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lethrinus erythracanthus” as species of emperor fish of the family Lethrinidae. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of emperor fish of the family Lethrinidae. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q31653. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1830.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lethrinus erythracanthus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.