Pempheris ornata, Mooi & Jubb, 1996

Mooi, R. D. & Jubb, R. N., 1996, Descriptions of two new species of the genus Pempheris (Pisces: Pempherididae) from Australia, with a provisional key to Australian species, Records of the Australian Museum 48 (2), pp. 117-130 : 120-123

Pempheris ornata n.sp.

Figs 1-4a, 5-6; Table 1

Pempheris sp.- Hutchins & Thompson, 1983: 40, fig. 183 (brief description, colour illustration).- Allen, 1985: fig. 229 (colour photograph).- Hutchins & Swainston, 1986: 66, fig. 336 (brief description, colour illustration).­ Gomon, 1994: 608, fig. 536 (description, colour photograph).- Hutchins, 1994: 49, as P. sp. 3 (Western Australian distribution).

Material examined. HOLOTYPE, AMS 1.33831 - 001 , 7l. 4 mm, South Australia, Rapid Bay (35°31'09"S 138°11'05"E), 9.l m, R. H. Kuiter, 21 March 1995.

PARATYPES, 19 specimens, 52.7-75.5 mm, all collected with the holotype. AMS 1.33831 - 002 , 63.2 mm; BMNH 1995.7.17 : 1, 54.8 mm; MPM 31496, 2 : 66.6-67.9 mm; NMV A15835, 4 : 53.2-75.5 mm; NTM S.14104-001, 53.6 mm; ROM 69303 , 68.2 mm; USNM 337545 , 2 : 51.1-75.1; WAM P.30996-001, 2: 52.7-66.0.

Other material: 20 specimens, 31.3-67.7 mm. AMS 1.20221 - 002 , 58.5 mm, Western Australia, Recherche Arch., Mondrain Island (34°08'S 122°14'E), 30 m, B.C. Russell, 21 March 1978; AMS 1.20186 - 001 , 2 : 51.4-52.3 mm, South Australia, Kangaroo Island, Penneshaw (35°44'S l 37°58'E), 9 m, B. Russell and R. Kuiter, 12 March 1978; AMS 1.20247 - 0l3 , 3: 3l. l-35.0 mm, Western Australia, Rottnest Island, Kingston Reefs (31°59'S 115°33'E), 8 m, B. C. Russell, 12 April 1978; WAM P.27916-001, 2: 56.6-58.4 mm, Western Australia, Recherche Arch., Mondrain Island (34°08'S 122°14'E), 30 m, B. Russell, 21 March 1978; WAM P.28300-014, 11: 50.7-67.7 mm, Western Australia, east side of Lucky Bay (34°08'S 122°15'E), 11-12 m, lB. Hutchins et aI., 16 April 1984 .

Diagnosis. Pempheris ornata is unique among the Pempherididae in having: 6-7 yellow-orange or goldenbrown stripes on anterior part of body, reducing to three stripes on caudal peduncle (stripes become dark brown in preserved specimens), body cream-coloured or transparent; 32-39 lateral-line scales. Other features which, in combination, help to distinguish it from other members of the family are: all scales cycloid and deciduous; circumpeduncular scales 14-17; segmented anal-fin rays 27-30; dark, linear light organ visible through body wall between pelvic- and anal-fin origins with a slight bifurcation around the anus; anterior light organ an upwardly-curving mass of finger-like projections communicating posteriorly with pyloric caeca.

Description. Dorsal-fin rays V,11 (V,II; IV-V,10-12, only once IV, rarely 10 or 12); anal-fin rays III,28 (III,28; I1I,27-30); pectoral-fin rays 16 (16; 15 -17, extremes uncommon); pelvic-fin rays 1,5; principal caudal-fin rays 9+8; upper procurrent rays 6,1 (6,1; 5- 8,1 -2); lower procurrent rays 4,1 (4,1; 3-5,1-2); lateralline scales 35 left, 36 right (35; 32-39, rarely the extremes); scale rows above lateral line 4; scale rows below lateral line 7 (7; 6-8); cheek scale rows 4-6 (based on only 6 specimens); predorsal scales 28 (28; 25 -33); circumpeduncular scales 15 (15; 14-17, rarely the extremes); gill rakers 7+22 (7+21; 7-8 + 21-24, rarely 24); total gill rakers 29 (28-30 almost equally common; 28-32, once 32).

As percentage of SL: head length 32.2 (32.0; 30.6- 33.7); head depth 32.7 (33.1; 29.8 -36.8); snout length 7.3 (7.0; 6.0-8.0); eye diameter 14.2 (14.5; 13.6-15.7); interorbital width 8.7 (8.2; 6.8-9.3); upper jaw length 18.9 (18.6; 17.2-20.0); predorsal length 42.0 (38.8; 34.6-42.9); prepelvic length 37.4 (39.9; 34.5-45.7); preana1 length 57.0 (58.4; 54.9-64.3); pelvic-fin origin to anal-fin origin 22.8 (21.7; 19.6-25.3); body depth 44.4 (40.9; 34.4-46.3); pectoral-fin length 30.1 (29.8; 27.2 -32.5); pelvic-fin length 21.0 (21.0; 19.6 -22.4); dorsal-fin base 24.6 (22.8; 20.6-25.1); longest dorsalfin ray 26.7 (25.2; 22.9 -28.8); anal-fin base 43.7 (42.1; 38.8-45.6); longest anal-fin ray 18.9 (19.4; 14.9 -22.2); caudal-peduncle length 13.0 (12.8; 9.6-14.8); caudalpeduncle depth 9.0 (10.0; 8.9-11.5); dorsal-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin 44.3 (41.0; 36.0-46.2); dorsal-fin origin to anal-fin origin 46.9 (44.2; 37.3 -50.2); dorsalfin origin to anal-fin insertion 58.1 (56.5; 53.3-59.1).

Caudal fin forked. All scales cycloid and deciduous, with flank scales large. Gular scaled. Pelvic axillary scale absent. Prepelvic area (breast) unkeeled, flat and broad.

Anterior light organ an upwardly curving mass of small finger-like projections communicating posteriorly with pyloric caeca (Fig. 4a). Posterior light organ linear with slight bifurcation around anus (not visible in view of Fig. 4a, 5).

Coloration. Holotype when freshly dead (Fig. 1): background colour on cheek, opercle, and body below lateral line iridescent silver; dorsal head, nape, and body above lateral line greyish to reddish; medial dark stripe along predorsal scales to dorsal-fin origin; dark stripe at level of dorsal part of eye extending to opercular opening, then merging with the upper-most body stripe; margins of jaws dark; lower part of cheek dark; iris yellowish; body below dorsal fin with 7 golden-brown stripes, with middle stripes brightest by having fewest darker chromatophores; number ofbody stripes decreasing posteriorly to three on caudal peduncle, ending at base of caudal-fin rays; stripes become increasingly reddish posteriorly; all fins with pinkish to reddish cast; dorsal fin pinkish hyaline, with dark anterior edge and dark distal tips on last two spines and first three segmented rays; anal fin quite red basally and on first few segmented rays, remainder pinkish hyaline with black tips on all but last 5 segmented rays, black covering 113 length of first 3 rays and about 114 length of remaining rays; pectoral fin pinkish hyaline; pelvic fin reddish hyaline, with distal 114 of first two segmented rays black; caudal fin reddish hyaline, with black tips on outermost branched rays. Colours from photographs of live individuals very similar to those of holotype, except for the following (Figs. 2,3; Allen, 1985: fig. 229; Gomon, 1994: fig. 536; unpublished photos by R. Kuiter): body background pale or cream-coloured, the posterior body and caudal peduncle sometimes transparent; stripe behind eye bright yellow or golden-brown; iris bright yellow; lower part of cheek with scattered yellow chromatophores; body stripes much brighter yellow; fins usually less reddish with less obvious black tips.

In 70% ethanol: cheek, opercle, and area below pectoral fin and sometimes lower part of abdomen silvery; dorsal part of head and nape dusky; remainder ofbody straw-coloured; stripes present as series of dark chromatophores, sometimes only 6 (rather than 7) from ventral abdomen to dorsal-fin base; fins yellowish with similar pattern of dark tips as described above, although black coloration variable in extent; black, silver-margined, linear light organ associated with rectum visible through body wall ( Fig. 5 ), becoming slightly bifurcate around anus.

Comparisons. The only species with vaguely similar coloration to P ornata are P multiradiata and colour forms of what is presently referred to as P oualensis . In these two species the longitudinal stripes are brown or reddish-brown (vs. orange or yellow) and more numerous (8 or more on the body vs. 6-7). Within the genus, P ornata has uniquely low counts of lateral-line scales (32-39) and anal-fin rays (27- 30). P multisquamata has the lowest lateral-line scale counts among remaining Pempheris species (42-49). Only P analis and the new species P ypsilychnus overlap the uppermost portion of the anal-fin ray count (30-36); both of these species have ctenoid (vs. cycloid scales), lateral-line scale counts of well over 60, and are without any longitudinal striping.

Distribution. Specimen localities are limited to areas along the southwest and south coast of Australia, from Rottnest Island (near Perth) to Rapid Bay Gust south of Adelaide) ( Fig. 6 ). The species also has been reported north to Dongara (= Port Denison), Western Australia ( Hutchins & Swainston, 1986; Hutchins, 1994).

Biology. The species is reported as sometimes congregating beneath piers and near jetties and not often sighted during the day ( Gomon, 1994). The deepest recorded collecting site is 30 m. This is the smallest member of the genus Pempheris , not known to exceed much more than 75 mm SL. The smallest gravid female measured 56 mm SL. The only geographic difference in meristics noted was a slightly lower total number of gill rakers on the first arch for the easternmost collections (Kangaroo Island, Rapid Bay) compared to western collections (Rottnest Island, Recherche Arch.) (modes of 28 vs. 30 -31) ( Table 1 ). However, more specimens are needed to establish whether or not these differences are significant.

Etymology. The specific name comes from the Latin ornamentum, meaning ornamented or ornate, in reference to the spectacular coloration of this species compared to its congeners. It is to be treated as a noun in apposition.

Figures

Fig. 5. Line drawing ofPempheris ornata n.sp., AMS. 1.20221-002, 58.5 mm SL, Mondrain Island, Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia. (RNJ).

Fig. 6. Distributions of the two new species of Pempheris. Arrows indicate ho1otype localities.

Tables

Table 1. Total number of gill rakers on the first arch of specimens of Pempheris ornata n.sp. from western (Rottnest Island, Recherche Arch.) and eastern (Kangaroo Island, Rapid Bay) localities.

No. ofGill Rakers	28	29	30	31	32
Western localities	2	4	5	5
Easternlocalities	TODO	8	5	TODO	TODO