Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 7, 2026

Hapalogenys

Hapalogenys, the barbeled grunters or velveltchins, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish. The species of this genus are found in depths between 30–230 m (98–755 ft) in coastal areas and river mouths from the shores of southern Japan to the Bay of Bengal and Northwestern Australia.

Last revised
Jul 7, 2026
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Hapalogenys
Broad-banded velvetchin (H. analis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Hapalogenyidae
V. G. Springer & Raasch, 19652
Genus: Hapalogenys
Richardson, 18441
Type species
Hapalogenys nitens
Richardson, 18443

Hapalogenys, the barbeled grunters or velveltchins, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish. The species of this genus are found in depths between 30–230 m (98–755 ft) in coastal areas and river mouths from the shores of southern Japan to the Bay of Bengal and Northwestern Australia.4

Etymology

Hapalogenys is a compound of hapalos, meaning "soft", and genys, meaning "chin". Sir John Richardson, who erected this genus, stated that this referred to "velvety softness of the chin and lower lip, which is made more conspicuous by contrast with the rigidly rough scales that cover the rest of the head".5

Taxonomy

The type species of the genus is Hapalogenys nitens, which was described by Sir John Richardson in 1844; it was designated as such by Pieter Bleeker in 1876.3 H. nitens was later found to be a junior synonym of Pogonias nigripinnis Temminck & Schlegel, 1843; now this species is formally known as Hapalogenys nigripinnis. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World places this genus in the monotypic Hapalogeynidae (within the order Perciformes), and it is noted there that the family is in a clade of seven families, and hence is probably close to the Acanthuroidei, the Monodactylidae and the Priacanthidae.6 Other authorities place the genus in the family Lobotidae (along with Lobotes and Datnioides), in the order Acanthuriformes.41

Characteristics

Species in this genus have laterally compressed bodies. They have 10 pores on and to the rear of the chin, including a pair of tiny pores near the symphysis. The lower jaw and chin have dense clusters of short barbels. They have small teeth which are arranged in bands on the jaws, vomer, and palatines. They have 7 branchiostegal rays supporting the gill membranes. The dorsal fin contain 11 spines and 13–15 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8–9 soft rays. The caudal fin is rounded. Hapalogenys nigripinnis is the largest species, attaining a maximum standard length of 40 cm (16 in).6

Species

There are currently 8 recognized species in this genus:47

  • Hapalogenys analis Richardson, 1845 (Broad-banded velvetchin)
  • Hapalogenys bengalensis Mohapatra, Ray & Kumar, 20137
  • Hapalogenys dampieriensis Iwatsuki & Russell, 2006 (Australian striped velvetchin)
  • Hapalogenys filamentosus Iwatsuki & Russell, 2006 (Philippine dark velvetchin)
  • Hapalogenys kishinouyei Smith & Pope, 1906 (Lined javelinfish)
  • Hapalogenys merguiensis Iwatsuki, Satapoomin & Amaoka, 2000 (Mergui velvetchin)
  • Hapalogenys nigripinnis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (Short-barbeled velvetchin)
  • Hapalogenys sennin Iwatsuki & Nakabo, 2005 (Long-barbeled grunter)

Human interactions

Some species in this genus are consumed in East Asia.

References

References

  1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lobotidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  2. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230.
  3. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Hapalogenys". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Hapalogenys". FishBase. February 2021 version.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (10 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  6. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  7. Mohapatra, A., Ray, D. & Kumar, V. (2013): A new fish species of the Genus Hapalogenys (Perciformes: Hapalogenyidae) from the Bay of Bengal, India. Zootaxa, 3718 (4): 367–377.
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