Author: Pennant, 1776

Ranzania laevis Pennant, 1776

Diagnosis: body oblong, covered by smooth hexagonal plates. Lips forming a funnel, closing mouth as a vertical slit. Clavus with 22 rays and straight edge. Dorsal finrays 17; anal finrays 13. Colour: blackish-blue above, sides grey with silvery lines curving across head and belly, and dorsal and ventral edges with black lines or spots. Size: to 80 cm TL.

Habitat: epipelagic. Behaviour: often gregarious, may form large schools. Food: no data. Reproduction: two developmental stages: (I) tetraodontiform—body rather elongate, no spines, caudal fin present; (2) ostracioniform (Centaurus boops)—body short, with a few very large and serrated spines.

Distribution: Mediterranean and Atlantic from Madeira to Scandinavia. Cosmopolitan.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Richardson, 1844: 52, pl. 30 (fig. 18-21) | Kaup, 1855: 221 | Günther, 1880: 175, fig. 93 | Sanzo, 1919: 1, fig. 1-4 | Schmidt, 1921: 76, fig. 2, 4-5 | Fraser-Brunner, 1951: 97, fig. 5 | Tortonese, 1956: 968, fig. 824-827 | Robinson, 1975: 27, fig. 1.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Tetraodontiformes
Suborder Balistoidei
Family Molidae
Genus Ranzania
Species Ranzania laevis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Ranzania laevis (Pennant, 1776)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Ranzania laevis Pennant, 1776

Synonyms:

Ostracion laevis Pennant, 1776, Brit. Zool., 3: 129, pl. 19 ('Cornwall').
Tetrodon truncatus Retzius, 1785, Svenska Veten. Akad. Handl., 6 (2): 121 (based on Pennant).
Orthragoriscus oblongus Schneider, 1801, Blochii Syst. Ichth.: 511, pl. 97 (Atlantic).
Orthagoriscus oblongus: Moreau, 1881: 77 Nobre, 1935: 342.
Ranzania truncata: Jordan & Gilbert, 1883, 16: 966 (North America) Perugia, 1881: 49, pl. 6-7 Lozano Rey, 1952: 370, pl. 29 (fig. 5).
Orthagoriscus truncatus: Day, 1884: 276, pl. 149 Soljan, 1963: 121, fig. 252.
Ranzania laevis: Fraser-Brunner, 1951: 95, fig. 3-5 Bini, 1968, 8: 105, fig. Wheeler, 1969: 569, 2 fig. Ben-Tuvia, 1971: 26, 35.

Common names:

none

Ben-Tuvia, A. 1971b. Revised list of the Mediterranean Fishes of Israel. Israel J. Zool., 20: pp. 1-39.

Bini, G. 1967-1972. Atlante dei pesci delle Coste italiane. Mondo Sommerso, Milano, 9 vol: I, 1967, Leptocardi, Ciclostomi, Selaci, 206 pp., 66 fig. + 64 col. fig. II, 1971, Osteitti (Acipenseriformi, Clupeiformi, Mictofiformi, Anguilliformi), 300 pp., 73 col. fig. III, 1970, Notacantiformi . . . Zeiformi, 229 pp., 34 fig. + 63 col. fig. IV, 1968, Perciformi (Mugiloidei, Percoidei), 163 pp., 34 fig. + 49 col. fig. V, 1968, Perciformi (Percoidei), 175 pp., 22 fig. + 56 col. fig. VI, 1968, Perciformi (Trichiuroidei . . . Blennioidei), 177 pp., 48 fig + 57 col. fig. VII,1969, Perciformi (Ofidioidei . . . Dactilopteroidei), 196 pp., 57 fig. + 59 col. fig. VIII,1968, Pleuronettiformi, Echeniformi, Gobioesociformi, Tetraodontiformi, Lofiformi, 164 pp., 34 + 63 fig. IX, 1972, Introduzione. Parte generale. Aggiornamenti. Indici. 176 p.

Bloch, M. E.; Schneider, J. G. 1801. M. E. Blochii Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit J. G. Schneider, Saxo. Berolini: Ix+584 pp., 110 pl.

Day, F. 1880-1884. The Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland. London-Edinburgh, 2 vol., cxii+336 pp., 5 +7 fig., 92 pl. and 388 pp., 87 pl. 1880: 1(1): pp. 1-64, pl. I-XXVII; 1881: 1(2) (3): pp. 65-240, pl. XXVIII-LXVIII; 1882: 1(4): pp. 241-336, pl. LXIX-XCII; 2 (5): pp. 1-96, pl. XCIII-CXVI; 1883: 2 (6): pp. 97-176, pl. CXVII-CXXXII; 2 (7): pp. 177-272, pl. CXXXIII-CXLVIII; 1884: 2 (8): pp. 273-368, pl. CXLIX-CLXXIX.

Fraser-Brunner, A. 1951. The Ocean Sunfishes (Family Molidae). Bull. Pr. Mus. nat. Hist., (Zool.) 1 (6): pp. 89-121, 18 fig.

Günther, A. 1880b. An introduction to the study of Fishes. Edinburgh, A. C. Black: 720 pp., 320 fig.

Jordan, D. S.; Gilbert, C. H. 1883b. Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. Bull. U.S. natn. Mus., (16), 1882 [1883]: Ivi +1018 pp.

Kaup, J. J. 1855. Uebersicht über die Species einiger Familien der Sclerodermen. Arch. Naturgesch., 21(1): 215-233.

Lozano y Rey, L. 1952. Peces fisoclistos, Subserie Toracicos. Mems R. Acad. Cienc. exact. fis. nat. Madr., ser.: Cien. nat., Primate parte, 14: pp. xv+1-378, fig. 1-20, pl. I-XXX; Segunda parte, 14: pp. 379-705, fig. 21-31, pl. XXI-LI.

Moreau, E. 1881-1891. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: pp. I-VII+1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881: pp. 1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881: pp. 1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: pp. 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Nobre, A. 1935. Fauna marinha de Portugal. 1. Vertebrados (Mamiferos, Reptis e Peixes), Porto.: pp. Ixxxiv+1-21 (Mamiferos); pp. 1-5 (Reptis); pp. 1-574 (Peixes), pl. 1-77, phot. 1-64.

Pennant, T. 1776. British Zoology, 4th ed., 3, Chester, 425 p., 73 pl.

Perugia, A. 1881. Elenco dei pesci dell Adriatico. Milano, Hoepli: 60 p., 7 pl.

Retzius, A. J. 1785. Tetrodon mola beskrifven. K. svenska VetenskAkad HandL, 6: 115-121.

Richardson, J. 1844. Ichthyology in The Zoology of the voyage of HMS 'Sulphur', under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, during the years 1836-1842; edited by R. B. Hinds, 2: 71-150, 30 pl.

Robinson, B. H. 1975. Observations on living juvenile specimens of the slender Mola Ranzania laevis (Pisces, Molidae). Pac. Sci., 29 (1): pp. 27-29, 1 fig.

Sanzo, L. 1919. Contributo alla conoscenza degli stadi larvali di Orthagoriscus Bl. Memorie R. Com. talassogr. ital., 69: 7 p., 1 pl.

Schmidt, E. J. 1921c. New studies of Sun-fishes made during the 'Dana' Expedition, 1920. Nature, Lond., 107: pp. 76-79, fig.

Schneider, J. G. 1801. See M. E. Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801.

Soljan, T. 1963. Fishes of the Adriatic (Ribe Jadrana). Fauna et flora adriatica 1 (revised and enlarged for the English edition), 428 pp., many unnumbered fig.

Tortonese, E. 1956d. Iniomi, Plectognathi in Uova, larve e stadi giovanili di Teleostei. Fauna Flora Golfo Napoli, 38: pp. 889-977, fig. 786-821, pl. LI.

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: pp. i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., 392 fig. (princ. sp.), 92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps. Stephanidis, A. 1939. Sur la presence des especes Trachypterus cristatus (Bonelli) et Ranzania truncata (Retzius) dans les eaux grecques. Acta Inst. Mus. zool. Univ. Athen., 2: pp. 246-247, 2 pl.

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