Luvarus

Luvarus
Temporal range: Early Eocene to present
Louvar (L. imperialis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Luvaridae
Genus: Luvarus
Rafinesque, 1810
Type species
Luvarus imperialis
Rafinesque, 1810
Synonyms

Luvarus is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Luvaridae. It is the only extant genus in that family and its only extant species is the cosmopolitan louvar (Luvarus imperialis), with one potential fossil species (L. necopinatus) known from the earliest Eocene of Turkmenistan.

Species

Luvarus contains the following 2 species:

A reexamination of the specimens of Luvarus praeimperialis published in 1995 found that it has features which are not consistent with its classification in this genus and familyand it has been classified in its own genus Aluvarus as family incertae sedis.

A 2026 study found that Luvarus necopinatus may actually be most closely related to Kushlukia, an extinct relative of the luvar belonging to its own family, Kushlukiidae. Meanwhile, the closest relative of Luvarus was instead found to be the extinct Avitoluvarus, with A. eocaenicus being the sister species to the modern Luvarus imperialis.

References

  1. 1 2 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Luvaridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Luvarus". FishBase. February 2023 version.
  3. ↑ "Luvarus Rafinesque 1810 (perch-like fish)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Bannikov, A. & Tyler, James (1995). "Phylogenetic Revision of the Fish Families Luvaridae and Kushlukiidae (Acanthuroidei), with a New Genus and Two New Species of Eocene Luvarids". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 81 (81): 1–45. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.81.1.
  5. ↑ Santaquiteria, Aintzane; Arcila, Dahiana; Carnevale, Giorgio; Rincon-Sandoval, Melissa; Melendez-Vazquez, Fernando; White, William T.; Baldwin, Carole C.; Westneat, Mark W.; Ortí, Guillermo; Tyler, James C.; Betancur-R, Ricardo (2026-05-22). "Ecological and genomic signatures of the convergent evolution of planktivory in fossil and living reef fishes over deep time". Nature Communications. 17 (1). Nature Publishing Group: 6739. Bibcode:2026NatCo..17.6739S. doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73110-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 13385881. PMID 42173838.