Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes, 1840)
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
Hipposcarus longiceps or Pacific longnose parrotfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish in the family Scaridae. It is found in the eastern Indian Oceans and the western Pacific Ocean from the Cocos-Keeling Islands and Rowley Shoals in the eastern Indian Ocean to the Line and Tuamotu islands in the east, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.
Hipposcarus longiceps was first formally described as Scarus longiceps in 1840 by the French ichthyologist Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865) with the type locality given as Waigeo in modern Indonesia.
The Hipposcarus longiceps exhibits distinct ontogenetic changes in otolith morphology, with younger individuals having more rounded otoliths and older individuals displaying elongated, lobed structures. These morphological differences are useful for species identification and understanding growth stages within parrotfish taxonomy. (Jawad, L.A, 2018)
Additionally, the Hipposcarus longiceps exhibits diandric hermaphroditism, meaning some individuals mature as males from birth, while others transition from female to male later in life (Moore, 2022).
The species is on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern, from the assessment year 2012.
Wikipedia contributors, Hipposcarus longiceps; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:48:41.830383+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Hipposcarus
- 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
- familyLabridae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyScarinae Rafinesque, 1810
- tribeScarini Rafinesque, 1810
- genusHipposcarus Smith, 1956
- speciesHipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes, 1840)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hipposcarus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Candelamoa parrotfishHipposcarus harid (Forsskål, 1775) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Scarus longiceps Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=278899 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:3M35P. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.