Odacidae is a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes

Perciformes

The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...

, commonly known as butterfish, cales, and weed-whitings. They are related to the much larger families of the wrasse

Wrasse

The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 82 genera, which are divided into nine subgroups or tribes....

s and parrotfish

Parrotfish

Parrotfishes are a group of fishes that traditionally had been considered a family , but now often are considered a subfamily of the wrasses. They are found in relatively shallow tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, but with the largest species richness in the Indo-Pacific...

.

Odacids are found in coastal waters off Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. They include species that feed on small invertebrates, as well as herbivorous grazers, some of which are able to feed on chemically unpleasant varieties of kelp

Kelp

Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....

 otherwise unpalatable to fish.

Genera

There are twelve species in four genera.

• Genus Haletta Whitley, 1947
  • Blue weed whiting, Haletta semifasciata (Valenciennes
    Achille Valenciennes
    Achille Valenciennes was a French zoologist.Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. Valenciennes' study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology...
    
    , 1840)
• Genus Neoodax Castelnau, 1875
  • Neoodax balteatus (Valenciennes
    Achille Valenciennes
    Achille Valenciennes was a French zoologist.Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. Valenciennes' study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology...
    
    , 1840)
• Genus Odax Valenciennes
  Achille Valenciennes
  Achille Valenciennes was a French zoologist.Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. Valenciennes' study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology...
  
   in Cuvier
  Georges Cuvier
  Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...
  
   and Valenciennes
  Achille Valenciennes
  Achille Valenciennes was a French zoologist.Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. Valenciennes' study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology...
  
  , 1840
  • Rainbow cale, Odax acroptilus (Richardson
    John Richardson (naturalist)
    Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
    
    , 1846)
  • Bluefinned butterfish
    Bluefinned butterfish
    The bluefinned butterfish, Odax cyanoallix, a cale of the genus Odax, is found only around Three Kings Islands which is about 80 kilometres north of New Zealand, in shallow reef areas where there is abundant brown seaweed...
    
    , Odax cyanoallix Ayling & Paxton, 1983
  • Odax cyanomelas (Richardson
    John Richardson (naturalist)
    Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
    
    , 1850)
  • Greenbone
    Greenbone
    The greenbone or butterfish, Odax pullus, a cale of the genus Odax, is found around New Zealand.-References:* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, ISBN 0-00-216987-8...
    
    , Odax pullus (Forster
    Johann Reinhold Forster
    Johann Reinhold Forster was a German Lutheran pastor and naturalist of partial Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America...
    
    , 1801)
• Genus Siphonognathus Richardson
  John Richardson (naturalist)
  Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
  
  , 1858
  • Tubemouth, Siphonognathus argyrophanes Richardson
    John Richardson (naturalist)
    Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
    
    , 1858
  • Slender weed whiting, Siphonognathus attenuatus (Ogilby
    William Ogilby
    William Ogilby was an Irish barrister and naturalist.Ogilby was honorary secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1839 to 1846....
    
    , 1897)
  • Siphonognathus beddomei (Johnston, 1885)
  • Siphonognathus caninis (Scott, 1976)
  • Long-rayed weed whiting, Siphonognathus radiatus (Quoy
    Jean René Constant Quoy
    Jean René Constant Quoy was a French zoologist.Along with Joseph Paul Gaimard he served as naturalist aboard La Coquille under Louis Isidore Duperrey during its circumnavigation of the globe , and the Astrolabe under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville...
    
     & Gaimard
    Joseph Paul Gaimard
    Joseph Paul Gaimard was a French naval surgeon and naturalist.Along with Jean René Constant Quoy he served as naturalist on the ships L'Uranie under Louis de Freycinet 1817-1820, and L'Astrolabe under Jules Dumont d'Urville 1826-1829...
    
    , 1834)
  • Siphonognathus tanyourus Gomon & Paxton, 1986