Mercer's tusked silverside

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Mercer's tusked silverside
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Atheriniformes Family: Phallostethidae Subfamily: Dentatherininae Genus: Dentatherina Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983 Species: D. merceri
Binomial name
Dentatherina merceri Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983

Mercer's tusked silverside, Dentatherina merceri, is a species of fish.

Mercer's tusked silverside originates from the western Central Pacific. It is found from the Philippines to north-eastern Australia and from Moluccas to the Trobriand Islands.^[1] It is found close inshore around islands and over coral reefs. Except for larval biology, little is known about this species.^[1] It may be taken as food by some commercially important species.^[1]

Dentatherina was originally classified in Atherinidae. In 1984, L. R. Parenti considered it to and the other Phallostethids to be sister taxa. However, ranking these two groups (Phallostethidae and Dentatherinidae) as two families within the same superfamily or two subfamilies (Dentatherininae and Phallostethinae) within Phallostethidae is a subjective decision. The distinctiveness of Dentatherina could be used in favor of separate family recognition.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Dentatherina merceri". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
2. ^ Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.