Paracheilinus flavianalis Kuiter and Allen, 1999

Tea, Yi-Kai & Walsh, Fenton, 2023, Review of Australian Species of Paracheilinus Fourmanoir (Teleostei: Labridae), with Description of a New Species from the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, Ichthyology & Herpetology 111 (3), pp. 397-415 : 411

Paracheilinus flavianalis Kuiter and Allen, 1999

Yellowfin Flasher Wrasse

Figures 5C , 8A–D , 9

Paracheilinus sp. 1 — Kuiter and Debelius, 1994: 232 (field guide, underwater photograph from Indonesia).

Paracheilinus flavianalis Kuiter and Allen, 1999: 123 (holotype WAM P.30836-007, Scott Reef, north-western shelf of Western Australia); Kuiter and Tonozuka, 2004: 496 (field guide, underwater photos from Indonesia); Michael, 2009: 287 (field guide, underwater photos from Indonesia); Kuiter, 2010: 115 (field guide, underwater photos from Indonesia); Allen and Erdmann, 2012: 707 (field guide, underwater photo from Triton Bay, West Papua).

Diagnosis.— Dorsal-fin rays IX,11; anal-fin rays III,9; pectoral-fin rays 14; pelvic-fin rays I,5; pored lateral-line scales 14–17 þ 5–10 ¼ 19–27; gill rakers 4–6 þ 7–10 ¼ 11–16; body depth 3.1–3.5 in SL; head length 2.7–3.2 in SL; snout length 3.8–5.1 in HL; orbit diameter 3.0– 4.6 in HL; interorbital width 3.7–4.9 in HL; least depth of caudal peduncle 1.9–3.0 in HL; caudal peduncle length 1.6–2.5 in HL; TP males with 1–4 (usually one) elongate, red filamentous dorsal-fin rays, longest dorsal-fin soft ray 1.8–3.6 in SL; pelvic fin length 1.9–2.9 in HL; caudal fin of TP males round without filamentous lobes; caudal-fin length 3.8–4.4 in SL; body with stripe pattern B; anal fin uniformly yellow or orangey yellow, basal third usually lined with a horizontal row of blue spots (sometimes incomplete or completely absent).

Remarks.— Paracheilinus flavianalis is most similar to P. amanda , P. carpenteri , P. mccoskeri , and P. rubricaudalis (see comparisons in description of P. amanda above). The members of this species complex are mostly allopatric, with P. flavianalis overlapping only very narrowly with P. mccoskeri in Bali and P. carpenteri in Sulawesi ( Fig. 6C ). It usually possesses a single red dorsal-fin filament, but individuals may possess anywhere between one to four filaments ( Fig. 8 ). Paracheilinus flavianalis is known from southern and eastern Indonesia, from Bali eastwards across the Lesser Sunda Islands, southern Sulawesi, the Moluccas, and West Papua. It also occurs in Timor Leste. In Australia, it occurs in Evans and Flinders Shoals, Timor Sea, off northeast Darwin, Northern Territory, and Ashmore, Scott, Seringapatam, and Hibernia Reefs in the north-western shelf of Western Australia ( Fig. 9 ).

Etymology.— The species is named flavianalis in reference to the characteristic yellow anal fin.

Figures

FIG. 5. A selection of Paracheilinus in life. (A1) P. amanda, new species, ZRC 64175, male paratype, 47.6 mm SL, off Hula, southern Papua New Guinea, Coral Sea; (A2) P. amanda, new species, underwater photograph from Osprey Reef, Coral Sea; (B) P. carpenteri, underwater photograph from Mabini, Batangas, Philippines. Note the darkened posterior dorsal- and caudal-fin bases and the presence of a second stripe behind the pectoral fin; (C) P. flavianalis, underwater photograph from Bali, Indonesia; (D) P. mccoskeri, underwater photograph from Khao Lak, Thailand; (E) P. rubricaudalis, underwater photograph from Mborokua, Solomon Islands. Note the reduced markings on caudal fin. Photographs by H. H. Tan (A1); T. Yamazumi (A2); T. Cameron (B); V. Chalias (C); T. Kawamoto (D); and N. DeLoach (E).

FIG. 8. Select individuals of Paracheilinus flavianalis demonstrating variability in the number of dorsal-fin filaments, coloration of anal fin, and spot band pattern on the anal fin. (A) Underwater photograph from Triton Bay, Indonesia; (B) underwater photograph from Wakatobi, Sulawesi, Indonesia; (C–D) underwater photographs from Bali, Indonesia. Photographs by R. Smith (A); J. Castellano (B); W. Osborn (C); and R. H. Kuiter (D).

FIG. 9. Paracheilinus flavianalis, underwater photograph from Hibernia Reef, Timor Sea, north-western shelf of Western Australia. Note sympatric Cirrhilabrus morrisoni and habitat consisting of extensive Halimeda growth. Photograph by G. R. Allen.

FIG. 6. (A) Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic relationships for select species of Paracheilinus inferred using mitochondrial COI. Support values at nodes correspond to SH-aLRT and UFBS support values, respectively. Scale bar indicates the number of substitutions per site. Outgroup taxa were pruned from the tree (see Allen et al., 2016). See Data Accessibility for tree file. (B) Median-joining haplotype network inferred using mitochondrial COI. Each circle represents a haplotype, and its size is proportional to its total frequency. Each black crossbar represents a single nucleotide change. (C) Geographical distribution for select species of Paracheilinus. Members of the P. mccoskeri species complex are represented by colored circles. Distribution records for P. carpenteri and P. mccoskeri are not shown in full—the former extends into southern Japan (indicated by the green broken arrow), and the latter extends into the western Indian Ocean (indicated by the purple broken arrow). Bicolored symbols indicate sympatry in that locality. Colored stars indicate distribution records for P. filamentosus and P. nursalim in Australia.