Antennablennius persicus ( Regan, 1905 )

Estekani, Sanaz, Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Zajonz, Uwe, Hundt, Peter J., Siahsarvie, Roohollah & Aliabadian, Mansour, 2024, Mitochondrial DNA-based reassessment of Antennablennius Fowler (Blenniidae: Salariini) from the north-western Indian Ocean, with resurrection of A. persicus (Regan), Zootaxa 5501 (3), pp. 425-446 : 436-439

Antennablennius persicus ( Regan, 1905)

Persian Blenny

Figure 7 , Tables 3 & 4

Blennius persicus Regan, 1905: 327 (Persian Gulf; lectotype: BMNH 1900.7.25.42– as a valid speciesalthough 44).

Antennablennius bifilum (non Günther)— Lal Mohan 1968: 118 (north-western India); Mehraban & Esmaeili 2018: 196 (Gulf of Oman, Iran); Estekani et al. 2020: 1009 (Gulf of Oman, Iran); Mehraban et al. 2021: 9 (Gulf of Oman, Iran, genetics); Sharafiniya et al. 2021: 67 (Gulf of Oman, Iran).

Description. Dorsal-fin rays XII,18–20 (usually 19 or 20); anal-fin rays II,19–21 (usually 20); pectoral-fin rays 14; body depth 5.4–6.1 in SL; lateral line ending below dorsal-fin spine VIII; a pair of close-set very long cirri on nape, cirri of males longer than in females; cirrus on anterior nostril short; no crest on head; teeth in jaws incisiform, immovable, close-set, 30–34 in upper jaw and 28–32 in lower; dorsal fin weakly notched between spinous and soft portions. Size: Reaches 6.1 cm

Coloration ( Fig. 7 ). Body dark greenish brown anterior to origin of anal fin becoming paler posteriorly, light greenish grey ventrally; anterior part of body below spinous portion of dorsal fin with a series of narrow, slightly oblique, white bars; posterior part of body above anal fin with six dark brown spots, which are progressively more vertically elongate anteriorly, and numerous small white spots; back with oblique white bars extending into soft portion of dorsal fin; head with indistinct two or three pale grey bars extending ventrally from eye and a short black bar ventrally at corner of mouth; spinous portion of dorsal fin dark grey with three diagonal black bands; caudal fin with vertical rows of small black spots and white spots ventrally; anal fin light grey, anterior one-third with yellow submarginal band and black margin in males, submarginal band white in females.

Distribution and habitat. Restricted to the north-western Indian Ocean, where known from the Iranian side of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and north-western coast of India.

Remarks. Regan (1905) described Blennius persicus based on specimens from the Persian Gulf. Almost forty years later Blegvad (1944) reported the species again from the Persian Gulf, based on specimens collected by him at Farur, Iran. His detailed description of one male and six females, however, report two flaps and short tentacles on the head of the male. These character states seem to correspond to the double crest in combination with short nape cirri found in males of A. simonyi , yet not in A. persicus . Also, the dorsal- and anal-fin ray counts provided by Blegvad do match those of the former species, hence the record of Blegvad can be referred to A. simonyi . Subsequently, Fraser-Brunner (1951), without examined material, noted that A. persicus may be a northern subspecies of A. bifilum differing in the number of segmented rays in dorsal and anal fins. Smith (1959) while creating the new genus Croaltus for A. bifilum , described by Günther (1861) from South Africa, examined one large specimen of 80 mm length of A. persicus from the Persian Gulf. He noted minor differences in coloration but did not provide a specific status of the latter. In his revision, Bath (1983) placed Blennius persicus into synonymy of B. bifilum , and commented on minor differences in dorsal- and anal-fin ray counts. This taxonomic recognition was later followed by Randall (1995), Mehraban & Esmaeili (2018), Estekani et al. (2020), and Sharafiniya et al. (2021). Mehraban et al. (2021) indicated that the South African and the Gulf of Oman lineages of A. bifilum are reciprocally monophyletic groups. Thus, the Gulf of Oman lineage of A. bifilum should be recognized as Antennablennius persicus . The species can be distinguished from A. bifilum by a higher count of segmented ray in dorsal and anal fins (19–20 and 20 versus 17–18 and 18–19, respectively), white narrow bars on the anterior unspotted part of body below spinous portion of the dorsal fin (versus white bars restricted to the ventral half and white spots also present on the anterior part of body), presence of black bar ventrally on the head at angle of mouth (versus three black bars ventrally on the head in A. bifilum ), and furthermore anterior one-third of the anal fin with yellow submarginal band and black margin in males. The frequency of dorsal and anal-fin ray for both species is provided in Table 4 .

Material examined (n=14). Gulf of Oman, Iran: Gulf of Oman, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Chabahar— Rocky beach, 25.2769° N, 60.6706° E, depth 0–2 m, coll. S. Estekani: ZMFUM-BLE-0113, 61.0 mm SL; ZMFUMBLE- 0114, 55.0 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0115, 55.2 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0116, 57.0 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0117, 55.0 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0118 (tissue sample 81ch2021), 56.5 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0119, 59.0 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0120, 55.0 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0121, 52.5 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0122, 56.0 mm SL; ZMFUMBLE- 0123, 54.5 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0124, 60.7 mm SL; ZMFUM-BLE-0125 (tissue sample 83ch2021), 50.1 mm SL. Gulf of Oman, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Chabahar —Ramin, 25.2670° N, 60.7531° N, depth 0–2 m, coll. S. Estekani: ZMFUM-BLE-0126, 53.0 mm SL .

Comparative material examined (n=2). Antennablennius bifilum : SMF 12773, 39.1 mm SL, Madagascar; SMF 34746, 37.9 mm SL, Europa Island.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Antennablennius persicus, Chabahar, Iran, Gulf of Oman. A: ZMFUM-BLE-0124, 60.7 mm SL, male; B: ZMFUM- BLE-0113, 61.0 mm SL, male; C: ZMFUM-BLE-0122, 56.0 mm SL, female; D: ZMFUM-BLE-0119, 59.0 mm SL, female. Photos by S. Estekani.