Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein 1822)

Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Santos, Bruna S., Semedo, Thiago B. F., Garcia, Lucas Canes & Moreira, Cristiano Rangel, 2023, The fish collection of José Mariano da Conceição Veloso (1742 - 1811) and the beginning of ichthyological research in Brazil, with a taxonomic description of the extant specimens, Zootaxa 5391 (1), pp. 1-85 : 52-54

Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein 1822)

Extant specimens: MCUC ZOO.0000019 ( Fig. 39a ), MCUC ZOO.0000053 ( Fig. 39b ), and ACL-HN-0054 ( Fig. 39c ).

Classification on the specimen: “P. Th. Perca guttata ”.

Common names on the specimen (Portuguese/Tupi): “Mero”/ “Cupuguaçu” (see comments).

Comments: This species was undescribed at the time Veloso prepared it. Perca guttata Linnaeus 1758 (= Epinephelus guttatus ) is an epinephelid that occurs in the western Atlantic but not south of the Gulf of Mexico. In the Ichthyologia Fluminensis manuscript, this species was originally named “ Perca punctata ”, but the specific name was altered to read “ gutata ” [sic]. Perca punctata Linnaeus 1758 [= Cephalopholis fulva ( Linnaeus 1758) ] is another epinephelid that occurs in the western Atlantic. Both species are superficially similar to Epinephelus itajara . There are 79 Perca herborized specimens mentioned in the Ajuda inventory ( Ferreira 1794), and one specimen of Perca guttata and one of Perca punctata reported in the transference document to the University of Coimbra. There is also one specimen in the transference list to the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. Antunes & Balbino (2003) also identified this specimen as Epinephelus itajara . In contrast to the Coimbra specimens, which display the common names in the customary arrangement with the Portuguese name written on the lower left corner and the Tupi name on the lower right corner, the specimen from Lisboa (ACL-HN-0054) deviates from this pattern in that the common names are centrally positioned below the fish, and the Tupi name is spelled as “Cupuguassú”. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the lettering style employed on this specimen differs from that observed on the specimens of the University of Coimbra. Epinephelus itajara occurs in the western Atlantic, from Florida ( USA) to São Paulo ( Brazil) ( Figueiredo & Menezes 1980; Heemstra et al. 2002), and eastern Atlantic from Senegal to Angola, with rare records on the Canary Islands ( Heemstra & Anderson 2016). This species is considered a threatened species in Brazil (IUCN category “Critically Endangered”; ICMBIO 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 39. Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein 1822); a: MCUC ZOO.0000019, 408 mm SL; b: MCUC ZOO.0000053, 340 mm SL; c: ACL-HN-0054, 670 mm SL. Photos by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.