Aulopareia ocellata ( Day, 1873 )

Larson, Helen K. & Jaafar, Zeehan, 2022, A review of the gobiid fish genus Aulopareia (Gobiidae: Gobiinae) with description of a new species from Kuwait and discussion of the status of Gobius cyanomos Bleeker, Zootaxa 5155 (4), pp. 493-516 : 505-507

Aulopareia ocellata ( Day, 1873)

( Figs 10–11 ; Tables 1–3 , 6 )

Gobius ocellatus Day, 1873: 107 ( Bombay) ; Whitehead & Talwar, 1976: 162; Hoda, 1980: 470; Bauchot et al. 1991: 37; Ferraris et al. 2000: 301.

Parachaeturichthys ocellatus — Hoda 1980: 470; Talwar & Jhingran 1991: 942; Larson & Murdy 2001: 3598; Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003: 119.

Aulopareia ocellata — Zare et al. 2012: 1194 ( Iran); Psomadakis et al. 2015: 303 ( Pakistan); Eagderi et al. 2019: 59 (Persian Gulf).

Diagnosis. An Aulopareia with second dorsal I,9–11; A I, 7–10; pectoral rays 19–20; SL 28–32; TRB 11–12; predorsal with about 22–29 cycloid scales; three preopercular pores present; cheek with cycloid scales reaching anteriorly at least to below mid-eye; opercle variably scaled, being from mostly covered to at least dorsal half; predorsal with cycloid scales extending anteriorly to interorbital space (may fill space); mental frenum fleshy, strongly bilobed; gill opening extending to under opercle; head rounded, as is anterior half of body; living fish whitish to pale grey with scale margins edged with darker grey, indistinct green spot on posterodorsal part of opercle, dark green spot just above pectoral fin base and yellow margined black spot on upper basal part of caudal fin.

Material examined. INDIA: MNHN A.9, 1(98), syntype of Gobius ocellatus , Bombay, F. Day ; AMS B.8055, 1(106), syntype of Gobius ocellatus , Bombay, India ; RMNH 1856 , 1 (96), syntype of Gobius ocellatus , Bombay ; RMNH 1856 , 1 (96), syntype of Gobius ocellatus , Bombay, F. Day ; USNM 341305 , 1 (80), [caught] 15-20 miles offshore, purchased at Crawford and Colabra fish markets and Sasoon Docks fish landing, Bombay , Maharashtra State, India , coll. F.H. Berry, 9 September 1965 . PAKISTAN: AMS I.35907-001, 1(108), Karachi , Pakistan, 1995. IRAN : NTM S.16768-001, 2(84–93), N coast Qeshm Island, Hormozgan Province, Iran , coll. P. Zare, March 1008.

Description. Based on six specimens, 80–108 mm SL.

First dorsal fin VI; second dorsal fin I,9–I,11, usually I,10; anal fin I,7–10, usually I,9, pectoral fin rays 19–20; segmented caudal fin rays 17, in 9/8 pattern; 7/7 branched caudal rays; lateral scales 28–32; TRB 11; TRF 12–16; predorsal scales 22–29.

Body compressed posteriorly, rounded anteriorly. Head rounded, wider than deep, 25.7–32.6% (mean 28.7%) of SL; head depth 46.7–58.8% (mean 54.1%) of HL; head width 51.8–62.9% (mean 56.8%) of HL; head profile slightly pointed, with hump at snout. Mouth terminal, oblique, forming an angle of about 30–35° with body axis; lower lip and chin tip anteriormost; jaws reaching below mid-eye; upper jaw length 34.4–41.9% (mean 37.0%) of HL. Lips smooth; lower lip fused to underside of head on either side of broad bilobed mental frenum, with pointed barbel at each side of frenum (AMS I.35907-001 from Pakistan lacking barbels). Eyes rather small, oval, 11.7–15.1% (mean 13.3%) of HL. Snout rounded in dorsal view, 21.2–24.3% (mean 23.3%) of HL; posterior nostril oval to triangular, placed close to front of eye; anterior nostril in low tube with low rounded flap on dorsal side of tube, close to upper lip. Interorbital broad, flat, 12.5–18.5% (mean 19.1%) of HL. Body depth at anus 16.9–19.5% (mean 18.5%) of SL. Caudal peduncle compressed, length 21.7–26.7% (mean 23.8%) of SL; caudal peduncle depth 11.3–13.9% (mean 12.4%) of SL.

First dorsal fin pointed, first spine longest; when depressed, spine tip reaching second dorsal fin origin. Second dorsal fin rather low, slightly pointed posteriorly. Anal fin low; fin slightly pointed posteriorly. Second dorsal and anal fin rays falling well short of caudal fin when depressed. Pectoral fin short, oval, central rays longest, 16.7– 26.2% (mean 21.6%) of SL; all rays branched, posterior tip of fin falling well short of anus. Pelvic fins short and oval, nearly equal in length to pectoral fin, 15.9–21.3% (mean 18.1%) in SL. Caudal fin short, rounded posteriorly, 24.0–29.7% (mean 26.6%) of SL.

Gill opening extending forward to under opercle, not quite reaching rear preopercular edge. Gill rakers on outer face of first arch relatively short and stout; rakers on inner face of first arch and outer face of second arch similar, fleshy, low and stubby.

Teeth in upper jaw in about six rows across front, narrowing to three to four at side of jaw, outermost row of teeth largest, fairly upright and pointed; teeth in innermost row small, sharp and evenly sized. Teeth in lower jaw similar to those in upper jaw, in about five rows across front and two or three rows at side of jaw; outermost row of teeth in lower jaw slightly more upright than outer row of teeth in upper jaw; outermost teeth slightly larger and caniniform at mid-point of jaw.

Predorsal scales small, cycloid, extending anteriorly to just behind interorbital space; cheek with small cycloid scales, interrupted by longitudinal papilla rows; opercle covered with small cycloid scales on dorsal half; pectoral fin base covered with cycloid scales; prepelvic area with cycloid scales reaching anteriorly to isthmus; body scales ctenoid anteriorly to behind pectoral fin; belly with cycloid scales.

Sensory canals and pores. Nasal pore at level of each posterior nostril, no anterior interorbital pore, single posterior interorbital pore present, no postorbital pore, long slit-like pore behind eye and pore at the end of anterior portion of the oculoscapular canal; a pore at each end of short separate part of oculoscapular canal over opercle; three preopercular pores present. Sensory papillae in longitudinal pattern ( Fig. 10 ).

Freshly dead colour. Figure 11 shows a fresh specimen from a fish landing in Tamil Nadu, India. The fish is pale yellowish-brown, with scale margins on upper half of body and head outlined in diffuse brown and four brown blotches along mid-side of body and a large diffuse grey area on caudal fin base. A round blackish-blue spot present on upper rear corner of opercle. Side of head with diffused blackish stripe along cheek extending onto opercle and becoming indistinct. Iris dark red-brown. Fins mostly closed (fish held in hand) but second dorsal fin has pale yellowish membrane and rows of dark grey spots, caudal fin yellowish at base and pale grey with dull orange spots, with dense black elongate blotch on upper rear part of fin, with deep yellow anterior to black blotch and fin bright white to rear margin posterior to black blotch.

Photographs on FishBase (erroneously identified as Parachaeturichthys ocellatus ; Froese & Pauly 2021) show a whitish-grey to yellowish fish, slightly darker on dorsal half of head and body, scale margins outlined with darker grey to brownish and several indistinct greyish blotches along upper mid-side of body; opercle greenish-grey with indistinct greenish spot above posterodorsal corner; iris yellowish; dorsal and anal fins greyish to yellowish grey; pectoral fin membranes yellowish; pelvic fins whitish; caudal fin blue-grey with yellow-edged black spot on dorsoposterior part. Day (1873) stated that the dusky spot just above the pectoral fin base is dark green when fresh and there is a yellow ocellus around the black spot on the upper part of the caudal fin. Hoda (1980) described specimens from Karachi as: “Olive, 6 blotches along sides of body. Dorsal and anal yellowish and spotted. A yellow ocellus with a black centre at the top of caudal fin. Lower lobes of caudal a little dark. Pectoral, ventral yellowish; anal whitish with fin black dots along basal half.”

Preserved colour. Head and body yellowish white, becoming pale brownish grey dorsally, with scale margins, especially on dorsal half of body, outlined with dusky grey (see Zare et al. 2012: fig. 2); underside of head and body plain whitish; distinct dark grey to blue-grey oval blotch just above posterodorsal corner of opercle; dorsal part of eye with indistinct dusky grey small blotch; dorsal part of snout darker than remainder of head; both dorsal fins pale dusky grey with some indistinct mottling, with characteristic narrow black line along leading edge of first spine of each fin; anal fin whitish with dusky areas along base of fin; pectoral fin base dusky, fin itself paler; pelvic fins pale yellowish white; caudal fin greyish with black to blackish ventral and posterior submarginal areas, fin bordered with white, small black spot, outlined in dull white, on dorsoposterior part of fin.

Distribution and Habitat. This poorly known species has been trawled from soft bottom habitats and is known from Iran, India and Pakistan.

Remarks. The AMS Pakistan specimen lacks barbels—more specimens are required to determine the significance of this. The USNM specimen does not show any dark ocellus on the caudal fin and has the pelvic fins partly split, but otherwise agrees in other features.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Sensory pores and papilla rows in Aulopareia ocellata, NTM S.16768-001, 84 mm SL female.

FIGURE 11. Aulopareia ocellata, fresh-caught, Tamil Nadu, India. Photograph by A. Murugan.