Pempheris tominagai Koeda, Yoshino & Tachihara

Koeda, Keita, Yoshino, Tetsuo, Imai, Hideyuki & Tachihara, Katsunori, 2014, A review of the genus Pempheri s (Perciformes, Pempheridae) of the Red Sea, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 3793 (3), pp. 301-330 : 317-321

Pempheris tominagai Koeda, Yoshino & Tachihara sp. nov.

Fig. 7 ; Tables 1–3, 11, 12

Pempheris molucca (not of Cuvier): Mouneimne, 1979: 105.

Pempheris oualensis (not of Cuvier, in Cuvier & Valenciennes): Allen & Steene, 1987: 55, pl. 36, fig. 7.

Pempheris schwenkii (not of Bleeker): Smith & Heemstra, 1986: 669, pl. 84; Smith, 1965: 247; Fricke, 1999: 322; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 327; Laith & Koeda, 2013.

Pempheris vanicolensis (not of Cuvier, in Cuvier & Valenciennes): Randall, 1995: 244, fig. 638: Siliotti, 2009: 31, 112.

Holotype. NSMT-P 106826, 95 mm, Sharm el-Sheikh (27° 51' 29'' E; 34° 17' 41'' N), Egypt.

Paratypes. NSMT-P 106827, 106828 (2), 82, 99 mm, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt; SAIAB 77935, 92 mm, Cap Matoopa, Seychelles; SAIAB 97406 (2), 116, 117 mm, Libanona Beach, Madagascar; SAIAB 62146, 75871 (5), 60–117 mm, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; URM-P 46336, 100 mm, Muscat, Oman; URM-P 46567, 46568 (2), 93, 100 mm, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt; BMNH 1982.9.9.1, 60 mm, Mombasa, Kenya; SMNS 21172, 107 mm, Saint Paul (21° 04' 41'' S, 55° 13' 03'' E), Mauritius.

Diagnosis. Pored lateral-line scales 47–52; scale rows above lateral line 4 1/2; scale rows below lateral line 10–11; predorsal scales 25–30; circumpeduncular scales 12; body depth 40.0–47.7% SL; no blackish spot on pectoral fin base; anterior edge of dorsal fin usually blackish, the rest faint orange; anal fin pale with base zonal black, and margin very faintly black; chest keeled, rarely weakly so; posterior (outer) nostril (closest to eye) usually open, not compressed ( Fig. 8 ).

P. tominagai P. tominagai P. schwenkii P. schwenkii Holotype Paratypes and non-types Syntypes non-types Number of Individuals 1 124 2 176

Standard length (mm) 95.1 53.4‒106.9 87.2, 89.7 35.4‒125.9 Counts

Dorsal-fin rays VI, 9 VI, 9 VI, 9 VI, VII rarely VII,

9‒10 rarely 10 Anal-fin rays III, 38 III, 35‒40 rarely 35, 36 III, 35, 36 III, 35‒42 Description. Body strongly compressed, body width 6.3–8.2 in SL; body deep, body depth 2.2–2.3 in SL; head length 3.2–3.4 in SL; snout very short, rounded, snout length 3.7–4.8 in HL; eye large 2.2–2.5 in HL; interorbital very narrow 3.0– 3.7 in HL; dorsal outline convex to dorsal fin base, extending somewhat linearly to caudal peduncle; ventral outline convex to anal fin base, extending somewhat linearly to caudal peduncle.

Mouth large and strongly oblique, upper jaw length 1.8–1.9 in HL; the maxilla extending to middle of pupil; maxilla broadly expanded posteriorly, its surface with level; lower jaw projecting beyond upper jaw; narrow band of villiform teeth in jaws.

Scales ctenoid, thin, semicircular in shape, far wider than long, and very deciduous; concealed small scales under surface scales; scales of ventral area larger than those of dorsal area; almost all parts of head scaled, except for just anterior to orbit; about one-third of basal part of anal fin covered with small scales; scales above lateral line more deciduous than body side scales; pored lateral-line scales adherent, running parallel to dorsal outline to middle of caudal fin.

Coloration when fresh. Body scales gold in daylight ( Allen & Steene, 1987); paired fins pink to orange; caudal fin usually yellowish; body coloration silvery, and coloration of fins pale at night.

Coloration when preserved. Body scales light brown; areas missing scales pale brown with irregular vertical dark brown lines marking scale pockets; black pigmentation on dorsal and anal fin usually persistent; blackish pigmentation on anal fin margin sometimes not discernable; posterior edge of caudal fin dusky; paired fins hyaline.

Genetics. On the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, two haplotypes occurred in P. tominagai , and a single specimen from the Indian Ocean ( Seychelles) had slightly different sequence from the other Red Sea specimens ( Fig. 2 ). The molecular analysis shows that P. tominagai and P. schwenkii , which is distributed in the Pacific Ocean, are sister species. However, these two species can clearly be separated by a minimum of 2.1% sequence divergence, and comprised different monophyletic groups.

P. tominagai P. tominagai P. schwenkii P. schwenkii Holotype Paratypes and non-types Syntypes non-types Number of Individuals 1 19 2 53

Standard length (mm) 95.1 74.9‒107.3 89.7 71.3‒125.9 As % of standard length

Head length 30.2 29.1‒32.0 (30.6) 28.4, 30.0 27.9‒33.0 (29.7) Head depth 33.3 31.3‒37.1 (34.3) 30.7, 31.1 30.6‒36.4 (33.4) Snout length 7.3 6.0‒8.0 (6.9) 6.7 5.6‒8.4 (6.8) Eye diameter 12.5 12.2‒15.0 (13.0) 12.2, 12.5 10.6‒14.2 (12.0) Interorbital width 8.3 8.1‒10.0 (9.1) 8.0, 8.9 7.1‒9.9 (8.1) Upper jaw length 16.7 15.9‒17.3 (16.4) 15.9, 15.6 14.3‒17.0 (15.6) Predorsal length 38.6 38.4‒40.1 (39.6) 39.8. 40.0 37.0‒41.1 (39.0) Prepelvic length 40.6 39.0‒43.2 (40.9) 39.8, 40.0 38.0‒43.0 (40.4) Preanal length 54.2 53.0‒59.8 (55.5) 52.3, 51.1 49.5‒59.6 (54.4) Body depth 42.7 40.0‒47.7 (43.5) 41.1, 42.0 40.2‒47.2 (43.6) Dorsal-fin length 22.9 21.3‒25.6 (23.0) damaged 20.0‒26.8 (22.1) Anal-fin length 13.5 9.4‒14.0 (12.3) damaged 9.4‒15.5 (13.2) Pectoral-fin length 27.1 25.5‒28.4 (27.1) Damaged 23.4‒29.6 (25.4) Pelvic-fin length 13.5 10.4‒14.1 (13.0) Damaged 9.9‒14.1 (12.8) Dorsal-fin base 15.6 15.6‒18.2 (16.4) 16.7, 17.0 14.0‒17.9 (16.0) Anal-fin base 49.0 45.9‒54.7 (49.5) 48.9, 50.0 45.9‒53.8 (50.4) Caudal-peduncle length 10.4 8.6‒10.6 (9.6) 8.9, 7.6‒10.2 (9.0)

9.1

Caudal-peduncle depth 8.3 7.8‒10.5 (8.7) 7.8, 9.1 7.4‒10.1 (8.6) As % of head length

Snout length 24.1 20.7‒26.1 (22.9) 22.2, 24.0 18.2‒27.3 (23.0) Eye diameter 41.4 40.0‒46.9 (42.8) 40.7, 44.0 35.5‒45.5 (40.4) Interorbital width 27.6 27.6‒33.3 (29.9) 28.0, 29.6 23.3‒32.3 (27.3) Upper jaw length 55.2 50.0‒56.7 (53.8) 51.9, 56.0 50‒56.7 (52.8) Comparisons. Compare with the other Pempheris species, P. tominagai is similar to P. s c h w e n ki i in most counts and measurement, and as a result has been frequently misidentified as P. schwenkii . These two species can distinguish from the other species in genus Pempheris in having lower scale counts (less than 53 pored lateral-line scales; less than 41/2scale rows above lateral line; circumpeduncular scales 10–12), lower body depth 40.0–47.7%, and anal fin with base zonal black. Between these two species, P. tominagai can be distinguished from P. s c h w e n ki i by the following characters: scale rows above lateral line 4 1/2 (vs. 3 1/ 2 in P. s c h w e n ki i); usually yellowish caudal fin in fresh specimens (vs. pinkish); posterior nostril usually open ( Fig. 8 a; vs. usually compressed: Fig. 8 b). In addition to these morphological differences, the adequate genetic divergence compared with other species, strongly indicated that P. tominagai is a validated species distribute in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

Remarks. Heemstra & Heemstra (2004) reported P. schwenkii from South Africa, but it might be a misidentification of P. tominagai . Mouneimne (1979) reported P. molucca from the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Lebanon (the first record of Pempheris in this region), but, the illustration seems consistent with P.

tominagai . However, no specimens of P. tominagai collected from the Mediterranean Sea were verified in the present study. More Pempheris materials from the Mediterranean Sea are required to substantiate the presence of P. tominagai in this region. Randall (1995) reported P. vanicolensis from Oman, providing two color photographs (Fig. 637 and 638 in the literature). One of the photograph (Fig. 638) seems to depict an assemblage of P. tominagai , based on the blackish band on the anal fin base.

Distribution. Pempheris tominagai is widely distributed in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. This species is also distributed in the north western coast of Australia, but not along the coasts and islands of Indonesia and north eastern Australia. Specimens were collected from 0–10 m depth. Pempheris schwenkii which the sister species is widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean, but is not overlapped with that of P. tominagai , and neither species had never collected from the Andaman Sea.

Etymology. The specific name, tominagai , honors the late Yoshiaki Tominaga, pre-eminent Japanese ichthyologist who contributed to taxonomy and morphology of Pempheridae .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Phylogenetic tree of the 15 Pempheris species recovered from mitochondria 16 S, estimated by the maximum likelihood (ML) method, using as out group Parapriacanthus ransonetii (Pempheridae). Only bootstrap values based on 1000 replications higher than 50 % by ML (left) and neighbor-joining (right) are displayed, respectively.

FIGURE 8. Illustrations of opened posterior nostril (a), and compressed posterior nostril (b).

FIGURE 7 a. Holotype of Pempheris tominagai (NSMT-P 106826), 95.1 mm SL, Sharm el Moya Bay, Egypt. b: Underwater photograph of P. tominagai, Tulear, Madagascar, taken by G. R. Allen.