Choerodon
{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Choerodon fasciatus.jpg
| image_caption = Harlequin tuskfish (C. fasciatus)
| image2 = ChoerodCauteromaRLS.jpg
| image2_caption = Blue-spotted tuskfish (C. cauteroma)
| taxon = Choerodon
| authority = Bleeker, 1849
| type_species = Labrus macrodontus
| type_species_authority = Lacépède, 1801{{Cof record|genid=1935|title=Choerodon|access-date=31 December 2019}}
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true|title=List
| Aspiurochilus Fowler, 1956
| Choerodonoides Kamohara, 1958
| Choerops Rüppell, 1852
| Cossyphodes Bleeker, 1860
| Hypsigenys Günther, 1861
| Lienardella Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1928
| Macrochoerodon Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1928
| Peaolopesia J. L. B. Smith, 1949
| Torresia Castelnau, 1875]
}}
| synonyms_ref = {{Cof family|family=Labridae|access-date=31 December 2019}}
}}
Choerodon is a genus of wrasses native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. They originated in the Miocene, when the Australian and Eurasian Plates collided.{{Cite journal |last=Puckridge |first=Melody |last2=Last |first2=Peter R. |last3=Andreakis |first3=Nikos |date=2015-03-01 |title=The role of peripheral endemism and habitat associations in the evolution of the Indo-West Pacific tuskfishes (Labridae: Choerodon) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790314003911 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=84 |pages=64–72 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.007 |issn=1055-7903}} They are commonly referred to as tuskfish, because most species have sharp tusk-like teeth.
Taxonomy
The genus Choerodon is most closely related to the odacine wrasses. Both groups are part of the wrasse tribe Hypsigenyini. Choerodon is split into 6 subgenera.{{Cite journal |last=Museums Victoria |last2=Martin F. |first2=Martin F. |date=2017-08-28 |title=A review of the tuskfishes, genus Choerodon (Labridae, Perciformes), with descriptions of three new species |url=https://museumsvictoria.com.au/collections-research/journals/memoirs-of-museum-victoria/volume-76-2017/pages-1-111/ |journal=Memoirs of Museum Victoria |volume=76 |pages=1–111 |doi=10.24199/j.mmv.2017.76.01|doi-access=free }} Molecular phylogenetic analysis has so far demonstrated the monophyly of the subgenera, although not all species in the genus have been evaluated.{{Cite journal |last=Hughes |first=Lily C |last2=Nash |first2=Chloe M |last3=White |first3=William T |last4=Westneat |first4=Mark W |date=2023-05-01 |title=Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae) |url=https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/72/3/530/6798871 |journal=Systematic Biology |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=530–543 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syac072 |issn=1063-5157}}
Choerodon typus was traditionally placed within its own genus Xiphocheilus, but both morphological and molecular analyses now place it within Choerodon, with Xiphocheilus becoming its subgenus name instead.
Potential tool use in tuskfishes
Orange-dotted, blue, graphic, and blackspot tuskfish have been recorded using large rocks or hard coral as "anvils", upon which they smash open hard-shelled prey items. All four species belong to the subgenus Choerodon, and can remember to use a particular rock or coral repeatedly for this purpose. This behaviour usually involves invertebrate prey such as clams and sea urchins, but on one occasion, a blue tuskfish was filmed smashing a young green sea turtle on an anvil.{{Cite journal |last=Pryor |first=Kimberley Jane |last2=Milton |first2=Ashley Monique |date=2023 |title=Tool use involving a different prey type, microhabitat and location, and long-term anvil use, by the graphic tuskfish Choerodon graphicus (De Vis 1885) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maec.12768 |journal=Marine Ecology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=e12768 |doi=10.1111/maec.12768 |issn=1439-0485}}{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=A. M. |last2=Brown |first2=C. |last3=Gardner |first3=S. |date=2011-09-01 |title=Tool use in the tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii? |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-011-0790-y |journal=Coral Reefs |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=865–865 |doi=10.1007/s00338-011-0790-y |issn=1432-0975}}{{Cite journal |last=Harborne |first=A. R. |last2=Tholan |first2=B. A. |date=2016-09-01 |title=Tool use by Choerodon cyanodus when handling vertebrate prey |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-016-1448-6 |journal=Coral Reefs |language=en |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=1069–1069 |doi=10.1007/s00338-016-1448-6 |issn=1432-0975}}{{Cite web |last=Nature |first=Research Communities by Springer |date=2017-10-31 |title=Tools and tails on Blue Planet II |url=https://communities.springernature.com/posts/tools-and-tails-on-blue-planet-ii |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Research Communities by Springer Nature |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Bernardi |first=G. |date=2012-03-01 |title=The use of tools by wrasses (Labridae) |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-011-0823-6 |journal=Coral Reefs |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=39–39 |doi=10.1007/s00338-011-0823-6 |issn=1432-0975}} Anvil use is also documented in several other wrasse genera.{{Cite journal |last=Jaishankar |first=Siddhi |last2=Nair |first2=Radhika |last3=Alcoverro |first3=Teresa |last4=Arthur |first4=Rohan |date=2024-04-01 |title=Anvil use by three wrasse species: Halichoeres hortulanus, Thalassoma jansenii, and Thalassoma lunare |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-024-02467-y |journal=Coral Reefs |language=en |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=483–487 |doi=10.1007/s00338-024-02467-y |issn=1432-0975}}{{Cite journal |last=Pryor |first=Kimberley Jane |date=2022 |title=Tool use by the orange wrasse Pseudolabrus luculentus and doubleheader Coris bulbifrons |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maec.12727 |journal=Marine Ecology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=e12727 |doi=10.1111/maec.12727 |issn=1439-0485}}
Species
The 27 currently recognized species in this genus are:{{FishBase genus | genus = Choerodon| month = August | year = 2013}}{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/labriformes1/ | title = Order LABRIFORMES: Family LABRIDAE (a-h) | access-date= 27 February 2023 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 22 September 2018}}{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/labriformes1/ | title = Order LABRIFORMES: Family LABRIDAE (a-h) | access-date= 27 February 2023 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 22 September 2018}}
