Parupeneus moffiti Randal & Myers, 1993

Uiblein, Franz, 2021, Taxonomic review of the “ posteli-species group ” of goatfishes (genus Parupeneus, Mullidae), with description of a new species from the northern Red Sea, Cybium 45 (1), pp. 63-77 : 72

Parupeneus moffiti Randal & Myers, 1993

Moffitt’s Goatfish

( Figs 1 , 2D ; Tab. I )

Material examined

Holotype. – BPBM 34930, 230 mm SL, West Pacific , Mariana Islands, Guam, 120 m depth.

Paratype. – BPBM 35051, 219 mm SL, same locality as HT, 230 m depth.

Diagnosis

Morphological characters

Pectoral fins 15; lateral-line scales 27; gill rakers 7-8 + 28-30 = 36-38; measurements in % SL (only large-sized fish available): body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 27-28; body depth at anus 23-24; caudal-peduncle depth 9.7-9.9; maximum head depth 24-25; head depth through eye 22-23; interorbital length 8.5; head length 32; snout length 16-17; postorbital length 11; orbit length 6.3-6.6; upper jaw length 13; barbel length 29; caudal-peduncle length 23-24; caudal-fin length 29; height of second anal-fin ray 13; pelvic-fin length 24; pectoral-fin length 24; height of second dorsal-fin spine 18; height of third dorsal-fin spine 23; height of second dorsal-fin ray 13-14 and height of ninth dorsal-fin ray 11; posterior maxilla margin ventrally rather straight and dorsally extended.

Colour

Fresh fish shortly after death with head and body below eye and mid-line pale red and a red belly margin that extends distally to caudal-peduncle and caudal-fin ventral margins; head dorsally from eye level, and body above the eye to the dorsal margin and base of the fins, with a red stripe ending behind the second dorsal fin and overlain in its middle part by a pink stripe from behind opercle to end of second dorsal-fin base; the stripe increasing in width from about half pupil size to orbit diameter posteriorly; mid-body below lateral line to level of pectoral-fin base pale orange to yellowish, connected anteriorly to a pale-yellowish stripe of about pupil to orbit diameter that descends below eye to posterior maxilla; scales on body with red or pale-red margins, forming a row of dark-red spots along dorsal body margin from behind first dorsal fin to behind second dorsal fin; scales on caudal peduncle with pink dots; pupil black, iris red and white; barbels white suffused with pale-reddish along proximal two thirds and pale-yellowish towards tip; first dorsal fin with mostly pale-red spines and partly red, partly hyaline interspaces; second dorsal fin basally red and distally yellow, longitudinally traversed by white-bluish lining along distal third of fin; caudal fin red at base and lower fin lobe with red ventral margin; upper caudal-fin lobe dorsal margin proximally pale red, then pale orange and yellowish towards fin tip; inner part of caudal-fin lobes pale yellow with yellow fin rays; pectoral fins pale-red with some red patches close to base; pelvic fins pale-red with red spine and rays; anal fin pale red at base, the distal two-thirds of fin longitudinally traversed by alternating yellowish and bluish-white lining; preserved fish pale brown or brown.

Distribution and size

Mariana Islands, Guam; 120-230 m depth; attains 23 cm SL.

Remarks

Only the HT and two PTs known, two of them documented by fresh-colour photographs.

Figures

Figure 1. – Relationships among eight morphometric characters including SL and total number of gill rakers in the five posteli-group species and three populations of Parupeneus posteli.

Figure 2. – A: Parupeneus chrysonemus BPBM 34775, 129 mm SL, Midway Atoll, Hawaiian Islands (J.E. Randall); B: P. chrysonemus BPBM 39141, 140 mm SL, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands (J.E. Randall); C: P. louise, large-sized fish (SL unknown), Rurutu, Austral Islands, French Polynesia (A. Stein); D: P. moffiti, HT, 230 mm SL, Guam, Mariana Islands (R.F. Myers). Scale bars = 20 mm.