Dentatherina merceri Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Mercer's tusked silverside (Dentatherina merceri) is a species of fish. This species is the only member of the family Dentatherinidae.
Mercer's tusked silverside originates from the west-central Pacific. It is found from the Philippines to north-eastern Australia and from Moluccas to the Trobriand Islands. It is found close in shore around islands and over coral reefs. Except for larval biology, little is known about this species. It may be taken as food by some commercially important species.
Dentatherina was originally classified in the Atherinidae. In 1984, L. R. Parenti considered it 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. Fish Base considers this species to belong to its own family.
Wikipedia contributors, Mercer's tusked silverside; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:30:03.473073+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dentatherina merceri Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
- Name authority
- Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Atheriniformes
- Family
- Dentatherinidae
- Genus
- Dentatherina
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAtheriniformes
- suborderAtherinoidei
- familyDentatherinidae Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
- genusDentatherina Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
- speciesDentatherina merceri Patten & Ivantsoff, 1983
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Patten, J. M., & Ivantsoff, W. (1983). A new genus and species of atherinid fish, Dentatherina merceri from the western Pacific. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 29 (4): 329–339. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:34TQM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.