[Ichthyology • 2017] Review of Red Sea Xenisthmus Snyder (Gobioidei: Xenisthmidae), with Description of A New Species; Xenisthmus oligoporus

Xenisthmus oligoporus Gill, Bogorodsky & Mal, 2017
Xenisthmus balius Gill & Randall, 1994 
Xenisthmus polyzonatus (Klunzinger, 1871)

DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4286.2.4

Abstract

Three species of the xenisthmid genus Xenisthmus Snyder are recorded from the Red Sea. Xenisthmus polyzonatus (Klunzinger), the only described species previously known from the Red Sea, is reported on the basis of eight specimens from Egypt, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia. Xenisthmus oligoporus new species is described from four specimens, 17.7–25.0 mm SL, from Sudan and Saudi Arabia. It is distinguished from all other congeners in having a reduced number of cephalic sensory pores and 14–15 segmented rays in the second dorsal fin. Xenisthmus balius Gill & Randall is newly recorded from the Red Sea on the basis of 13 specimens from Eritrea, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The new specimens of this species are described and compared with previously known specimens, the holotype and eight paratypes from the Arabian (= Persian) Gulf. All three species are described in detail and illustrated with colour photographs. An identification key to the species is also provided.

Keywords: Pisces, Arabian Gulf, taxonomy, key to species

Xenisthmus oligoporus new species

 Few-pored wriggler

Diagnosis. Xenisthmus oligoporus is distinguished from congeners in having a reduced number of cephalic sensory pores (lacking pores A, I, J, K, P and Q) and in having 14–15 segmented rays in the second dorsal fin.

Etymology. The specific epithet is from the Greek oligos (few) and poros (hole) and alludes to the relatively low number of sensory pores on the head. To be treated as a noun in apposition.

Habitat and distribution. Known from sandy areas adjacent to reefs in 6–13 m. The species is currently known from Duba, Saudi Arabia, south to the Farasan Archipelago (Figure 3).

Xenisthmus balius Gill & Randall, 1994 

Freckled wriggler

Diagnosis. A species of Xenisthmus with the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays VI + I,13 (rarely I,14); anterior rim of posterior nostril raised, without well-developed flap; scales of body mainly cycloid; head and body pale, with reticulate mottling dorsally.

Habitat and distribution. Xenisthmus balius was previously known only from Jana Island, Saudi Arabia, in the Arabian Gulf. We newly record this species from the Red Sea on the basis of 13 specimens collected in Eritrea, Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Figure 3). It has been collected from sandy areas adjacent to coral rubble and reefs in 1.5– 17 m.

Xenisthmus polyzonatus (Klunzinger, 1871) 

Bullseye wriggler

Diagnosis. A species of Xenisthmus with the following combination of characters: second dorsal-fin rays usually I,11 (rarely I,12); anal-fin rays I,10–11; tongue rounded to truncate; and posterior nostril with well-developed anterior flap.

Anthony C. Gill, Sergey V. Bogorodsky and Ahmad O. Mal. 2017. Review of Red Sea Xenisthmus Snyder (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Xenisthmidae), with Description of A New Species. Zootaxa. 4286(2);  DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4286.2.4

  

[Ichthyology • 2017] Amblygaster indiana • A New Species of Clupeid Fish (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae), off Eraviputhenthurai, West Coast of India

Amblygaster indiana  

Mary, Balasubramanian, Selvaraju & Shiny, 2017
   DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4247.4.7 

Abstract

A new species, Amblygaster indiana sp. nov., is described from 12 specimens collected from fish landing centers and fish markets at Eraviputhenthurai, west coast of India. The new species can be differentiated from all other species of Amblygaster by its larger size and very deep body, 8 circular-shaped pre-pelvic scutes, different gill rakers counts, large eyes, 40 lateral scales, and peculiar gap between the left and right frontoparietal striae on the top of the head. The new species has been seasonally captured with A. sirm in Eraviputhenthurai and also other coastal waters of the south west coast of India. The proportions of A. indiana sp. nov. and A. sirm in fish catches are approximately 1 to 20. Gillnets and shore seines are used to catch Amblygaster spp. along the Eraviputhenthurai coast and along the coastal zones of south west coasts of India.

Keywords: Pisces, Clupeiformes, Amblygaster, new species, west coast of India

FIGURE 1: Amblygaster indiana sp. nov., holotype, ZSI/MBRC/540, 21 cm SL.
 A, Fresh specimen;  B, drawing of holotype. 

A.A. Mary, T. Balasubramanian, S. Selvaraju and A. Shiny. 2017. Description of A New Species of Clupeid Fish, Amblygaster indiana (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae), off Eraviputhenthurai, West Coast of India. Zootaxa. 4247(4); 461-468. DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4247.4.7

[Ichthyology • 2016] Scomber indicus • A New Species of Mackerel (Scombridae: Scombrini) from Eastern Arabian Sea

Scomber indicus 

   Abdussamad, Sandhya & Arun, 2016

Indian Chub Mackerel  |  DOI: 10.21077/ijf.2016.63.3.59184-01 

ABSTRACT

Scomber indicus, a new species of mackerel is described based on the specimens collected from the eastern Arabian Sea. The species is differentiated from its nearest congener Scomber australasicus, in having 29-32 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch, posteriormost part of hypohyal blunt, with presence of a pit between the hypohyal and the ceratohyal and also in having a posteriorly directed haemal spine which is deeply curved in the basal region. Genetic differentiation and divergence between the newly described species and the 4 valid species of the genus Scomber viz., S. scombrus, S. japonicus, S. australasicus and S. colias were compared using cytochrome c oxidase 1 and cytochrome b gene sequences. The new species was found closest to S. colias followed by S. japonicus with Kimura 2 parameter (K2P) values of 1.4 and 1.8% respectively. In the phylogenetic tree, sequences of Scomber indicus sp. nov. formed a distinct well separated clade with significant bootstrap values as compared to the sequences of S. scombrus, S. japonicus, S. australasicus and S. colias indicating their distinctiveness and separate species status.

Keywords: Arabian Sea, Indian chub mackerel, New species, Scomber indicus

E. M. Abdussamad, Sandhya Sukumaran, Arun K. O. Ratheesh, K. Mohamed Koya, K. P. S. Koya, Prathibha Rohit, Sally Reader, K. V. Akhilesh and A. Gopalakrishnan. 2016. Scomber indicus, A New Species of Mackerel (Scombridae: Scombrini) from Eastern Arabian Sea. Indian J. Fish. 63(3); 1-10. DOI: 10.21077/ijf.2016.63.3.59184-01

    

[Ichthyology • 2016] Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus • A New Subspecies of Goatfish (Perciformes, Mullidae) from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea

 Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus 

 Fernandez-Silva & Randall, 2016 
 DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.605.8060

Abstract

The number of goatfish species has increased recently, thanks in part to the application of molecular approaches to the taxonomy of a family with conservative morphology and widespread intraspecific color variation. A new subspecies Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall is described from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, including Socotra and Gulf of Oman. It is characterized by a yellow caudal fin, 25–28 gill rakers, and 37–38 lateral-line scales and it is differentiated from nominal subspecies M. flavolineatus flavolineatus by 1.7% sequence divergence at the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The morphometric examination of specimens of M. f. flavolineatus revealed variation in head length, eye diameter, and barbel length, in western direction from the Hawaiian Islands, South Pacific, Micronesia, and the East Indies to the Indian Ocean. The population of Mulloidichthys f. flavicaudus subsp. n. in the Gulf of Aqaba differs from that of the remaining Red Sea by shorter barbels, smaller eyes, shorter head, and shorter pelvic fins. We present a list of 26 endemic fishes from the Gulf of Aqaba and discuss the probable basis for the endemism in the light of the geological history of this region.

Keywords: cytb, marine fish, glacial refugia, phylogeography, taxonomy, vicariance

Figure 4. Underwater photographs of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. from Dahab in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Photo by Sergey V. Bogorodsky. 

Diagnosis: Body elongate, the depth at first dorsal-fin origin 4.1–4.5 in SL; head moderately compressed, the length 3.0–3.3 in SL; snout long, slightly blunt. Barbels usually not reaching a vertical at posterior margin of preopercle, their length 4.1-5.0 in SL. Eye diameter 10.3–13.5 in SL. Pectoral-fin rays 16–18. Gill-raker counts 25–28 (usually 26 or 27); lateral-line scales 37–38. Caudal fin yellowish to yellow. [Diagnosis based on the Red Sea proper population, i.e. excluding the Gulf of Aqaba, see remarks].

Etymology: Mulloidichthys f. flavicaudus subsp. n. is named in reference to the yellow color of the caudal fin, in contrast to the whitish gray color of the caudal fin of M. f. flavolineatus.

Distribution: Mulloidichthys f. flavicaudus subsp. n. is restricted to the NW Indian Ocean biogeographic province, where it ranges from various locations in the Red Sea (including the Gulf of Aqaba), the Gulf of Tadjoura, the Gulf of Aden, and Socotra (Fig. 9). M. f. flavicaudus subsp. n. has extended its range to Oman (Fig. 11) and probably to the Maldives (Fig. 12), where it has encountered the western distribution of M. f. flavolineatus. Underwater photographs of fish with yellow and gray caudal fins suggest overlap and interbreeding by the two subspecies. Carpenter et al. (1997) included M. flavolineatus in their catalog of fishes of the Arabian Gulf. They did not cite any voucher specimens, and the photo they used is from Mauritius.

Figure 7. School of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. at Eilat, Gulf of Aqaba.

Photo by John E. Randall.  

 Iria Fernandez-Silva, John E. Randall, Daniel Golani and Sergey V. Bogorodsky. 2016. Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall (Perciformes, Mullidae), A New Subspecies of Goatfish from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. ZooKeys. 605: 131-157. DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.605.8060

[Ichthyology • 2016] Lutjanus sapphirolineatus • Validity of A Blue Stripe Snapper, Lutjanus octolineatus (Cuvier 1828) and A Related Species, L. bengalensis (Bloch 1790) with A New Species (Pisces; Lutjanidae) from the Arabian Sea

Lutjanus sapphirolineatus 

Iwatsuki, Al-Mamry & Heemstra, 2016
 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4098.3.5

Abstract

Lutjanus octolineatus (Cuvier 1828), previously considered a junior synonym of Lutjanus bengalensis (Bloch 1790), is shown to be a valid species and lectotypes are designated. Both species are redescribed. The two species have overlapping distributions in the Indian Ocean, but are clearly separable by different dorsal-fin spine counts, blue-striped pattern on the body and the presence or absence of a subocular extension of cheek scales. Lutjanus octovittata (Valenciennes 1830), formerly assigned to synonymy of L. bengalensis, is considered a junior synonym of L. octolineatus based on examination of the holotype. Lutjanus sapphirolineatus n. sp., a species formerly misidentified as L. bengalensis, is described based on 10 specimens from Oman and Somalia. The new species differs from the three species above by a combination of different characters. Analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1, 603 bp) genetic marker, also strongly supports the validity of each species of the blue-striped snapper complex as distinct.

Keywords: Pisces, Lutjanus octolineatus, L. bengalensis, validity, L. sapphirolineatus n. sp., taxonomy, blue-striped snapper complex, Indian Ocean

Lutjanus bengalensis (Bloch 1790) 

Yukio Iwatsuki, Juma M. Al-Mamry and Phillip C. Heemstra. 2016. Validity of A Blue Stripe Snapper, Lutjanus octolineatus (Cuvier 1828) and A Related Species, L. bengalensis (Bloch 1790) with A New Species (Pisces; Lutjanidae) from the Arabian Sea. Zootaxa. 4098(3) 

DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4098.3.5

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