Epinephelus adscensionis ( OSBECK, 1765 )

Heemstra, P. C., 1991, A Taxonomic Revision Of The Eastern Atlantic Groupers (Pisces: Serranidae), Bol. Mus. Mun. Funchal 43 (226), pp. 5-71 : 17-20

Epinephelus adscensionis ( OSBECK, 1765)

Fig. 4. d

Perca tota maculis ... SEBA, 1758; 76, Pl. 27, Fig. 7 (type locality, unknown).

Trachinus adscensionis OSEECK, 1765: 388 (type locality, Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean; holotype not located).

Perca stellio WALBAUM, 1792: 349 (based on Perca tota maculis of SEBA).

Trachinus osbeck LACEPÈDE, 1800: 364 (substitute for Trachinus adscensionis OSBECK ; type locality, Ascension Island).

Serranus pixanga VALENCIENNES , in Cuv. & VAL., 1828: 383 (type locality unknown [presumably Brazil]; based on a description by MARCGRAVE).

Serranus nigriceps VALENCIENNES , m Cuv. & VAL., 1830: 517 (type locality unknown, holotype MNHN 7393 (264 mm.).

Serranus impetiginosus MÜLLER & TROSCHEL, 1848: 665 (type locality, Barbados; holotype not located).

Serranas capreolus POEY, 1860: 145 (type locality, Cuba; holotype not located).

Serranus varius BOCOURT, 1868: 222 (type locality, Gulf of Mexico; holotype MNHN 5190 (166 mm)-

Epinephelus adscensionis : See C. L. SMITH (1971: 145) for numerous additional references.

Diagnosis: Dorsal fin XL, 16- 18; anal fin III,8; pectoral fin rays 18 -20; lateral-line scales 48-53; lateral scale series 92- 108; gill-rakers 7-9 + 16- 19 including 2-7 rudiments on each limb. Body depth less than head length, contained 2.6-3.2 times in SL (for fish 13 -38 cm. SL); head length 2.1 - 2.5 times in SL; pectoral fins longer than pelvics, 1.5 -2.1 times in head length; pelvic fins 1.8 -2.3 times in head length for fish 10- 19 cm. SL, 2.2-2.7 times in head length for fish 20-38 cm. SL. Rear margin of caudal fin convex; dorsal fin with the fourth or fifth spine longest and the interspinous membranes distinctly incised. Interorbital area flat or slightly concave; preopercle evenly serrate, without salient angle; subopercle and interopercle smooth; nostrils subequal. Lateral body scales distinctly ctenoid, with auxiliary scales.

Colour: Head, body and fins generally buff or pale greenish, covered with reddish brown spots (spots fewer but larger on small juveniles) and scattered pale blotches; usually 3 -5 dark brown blotches (groups of dark spots) at base of dorsal fin and a blackish-brown blotch on top of caudal peduncle (on some specimens, only the dark blotch at base of last dorsal spines is apparent); rear edge of caudal fin with a row of dark brown spots forming a dark margin.

According to LUBBOCK (1980), the rock hind at Ascension Island may attain a length of "about one metre"

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

E. adscensionis is a wide-ranging species known from the mid-Atlantic islands of Ascension and St. Helena and, in the western Atlantic, from Bermuda, Massachusetts (one record), South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and from the Caribbean to southern Brazil. Reports by C. L. SMITH (1971: 148) of E. adscensionis at the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands and South Africa are unsubstantiated (see Remarks, below). This species was not reported by DOOLEY et al., (1985) in their extensive survey of the fish fauna of the Canary Islands. Records from the Portuguese islands in the Gulf of Guinea ( OSÓRIO, 1898) require verification.

REMARKS

E. adscensionis occurs on rocky reefs in depths of 2 to 100 m. At Saint Helena, it is common in shallow water and represents 90 % of "groundfish" landings; large adults (over 50 cm.) are taken regularly in 50 to 100 m., but are rare in shallow water ( EDWARDS & GLASS, 1987). E. adscensionis is also of major importance to the fisheries at Ascension Island. It is caught with hook and line, in traps and with spears.

Records of E. adscensionis from South Africa ( BARNARD, 1927; SMITH, 1949; C.L. SMITH, 1971) are apparently based on two dried juveniles sent to the British Museum by ANDREW SMITH in the early 1800’s. These specimens were said to be from “Cape Seas" ( BOULENGER, 1895); but as no others have been reported from South Africa, it seems likely that ANDREW SMITH may have obtained these fish from St. Helena or Ascension Island. There are no E. adscensionis from South Africa in either the South African Museum or the J. L. B. Smith Institute.

The report of E. adscensionis from the Cape Verde Islands (C.L. SMITH, 1971: 145) is based on the holotype of Serranus aspersus J ENYNS (1843) . Although JORDAN and EIGENMANN (1890) recognized S. aspersus as a valid (but dubious) species, BOULENGER (1895) and C.L. SMITH (1971) regarded it as a synonym of E. adscensionis . JENYNS' (1843) original description of a 4.25 inch fish collected by CHARLES DARWIN, does not accord with adscensionis: the dorsal fin rays are too few (15, vs. 16 - 18), and the colour pattern does not fit (no mention of the characteristic dark reddish brown spots on the head and body of adscensionis ). This holotype is probably a specimen of E. marginatus , because the original description agrees well with juveniles of this species and they are common at the Cape Verde Islands.

Serranus nigriculus VALENCIENNES, 1828 was listed in the synonymy of E. adscensianis by SMITH (1971), but BAUCHOT et al. (1984) correctly assigned these two syntypes to Cephalopholis cruentata .

MATERIAL EXAMINED

ASCENSION ISLAND: GMBL 80-20 (295 mm.); RUSI 12884 (310 mm.); RUSI 28229 (16, 42-205 mm.). ST. HELENA: RUSI 29410 (5, 330- 381 mm.); USNM (2, 334-355). SOUTH CAROLINA: GMBL 71 -211 (285 mm.). PUERTO RICO: UPRM 3688 (35 mm. SL). PANAMA: MCZ 43743 (187 mm.). BRAZIL: MZUSP (240 mm.); Salvador, MZUSP (2, 120- 137 mm.); São Paulo, MZUSP (329 mm.).

Figures

Fig. 4 - Epinephelus adscensionis, 17 cm. SL. Ascension Islands, from VAILLANT & BOCOURT, 1875.

Fig. 7 - Epinephelus coioides, 33 cm. SL, Persian Gulf, from photograph of J. E. RANDALL.