Serranus (Serranus) atricauda (Günther, 1874)

Iwamoto, Tomio & Wirtz, Peter, 2018, A Synopsis of the Eastern and Central Atlantic Combers of the Genus Serranus (Teleostei: Scorpaeniformes: Serranidae), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65 (1), pp. 1-39 : 6-8

Serranus (Serranus) atricauda (Günther, 1874)

Figures 2–4

Serranus (Serranus) atricauda Günther, 1874:230 ( Mogador [ Essaouira, Morocco]). Paracentropristis atricauda : Fowler, 1936:768

DIAGNOSIS.— D X,15–16; P 17; A III,7–8, usually 8; gill rakers 8+14–15(22–23 total); pored lateral-line scales 80-90; circumpeduncular scales about 47. Caudal fin truncate; upper lobe slightly elongated and pointed at tip; lower lobe rounded. Snout, anterior half of suborbital region, top of head, jaws, gular and branchiostegal membranes, most of interorbital, and outer margin of preopercle naked; all fins with small scales on basal portion of rays. Anterior nostril with raised rim, posterior portion of rim elevated into a narrow flap lacking fingerlike fringes. Adults with midlateral series of squarish black blotches, often broken by narrow white vertical bars (but not in yellow morphs, see below). Tips of caudal fin and distal margin of anal fin blackish.

DESCRIPTION.— Head about 2.7–3.0 time in SL; snout pointed, longer than orbit, about 3.8–4.0 in HL; orbit and interorbital space about equal, and about 4–6 times in HL. Body relatively shallow, 3.3–3.5 times in SL, compressed, the dorsal profile gently curved from snout tip to end of tail, ventral profile similarly smooth but less curved. Three flat spines on opercle, the uppermost and lowermost much shorter than middle spine, the narrow opercular flap extending beyond middle spine a distance about equal to length of that spine. Preopercle margin armed with small serrations along entire free margin.

Premaxillary teeth with two or three short canines on outer border of a cluster of teeth near tip of jaw, and one or two larger canines on inner mesial margin of cluster; the anterior cluster tapering to a narrow band posteriorly, flanked by a spaced series of smaller conical teeth. Dentary with moderately wide band of small teeth anteriorly, with two prominent canines at tip; the band narrowing to one or two irregular series of small, spaced canines interspersed with a few large canines near mid-length of jaw. Vomer with small teeth in a broadly V-shaped band; palatine teeth small, in a short narrow band.

First 4–6 spines of dorsal fin graduated, the spines following subequal; 5 th or 6 th spine longest, their length about equal to distance orbit to angle of preopercle; the soft dorsal slightly higher where it joins spinous dorsal, creating a slight rise but no distinct notch in profile of dorsal fin; longest spine (5 th or 6 th) about equal to longest segmented ray. Anal-fin spines graduated, the first 44–60% length of second and third spines, which are about equal; segmented rays of anal fin longer than spines, the last three or four segmented rays longest. Pectoral fin broad-based, its origin about on same vertical as origin of dorsal and pelvic fins; distal tips of pectoral and pelvic fins falling well short of anal fin.

Color: Adults ( Fig. 2 ) commonly have a white longitudinal stripe on body over anterior half of lateral line, after which the stripe narrows as it continues its horizontal course to the upper margin of the caudal peduncle, while the lateral line descends to a midlateral position; below this white stripe are four or five large, dark, rectangular blocks, each block alternating with a narrow dark vertical band; about five large dark blotches on dorsum below dorsal fin; small dark spots arrayed along ventral border of longitudinal white stripe from behind gill cover to upper margin of caudal peduncle; median fins with numerous pale blue dots, which extend onto caudal peduncle in three horizontal rows; two or three dark oblique stripes on cheek; tips of anal and caudal fins black. Juveniles ( Fig. 3 ) often differ in having a broad white stripe bordered by two black stripes, the upper black stripe extending from tip of snout to base of upper caudal-fin lobe, the lower extending from below eye to base of lower caudal-fin lobe; caudal fin transparent. A photograph of a yellow morph from the Cape Verde Islands (presumably from deep water) ( Fig. 4 ) shows body overall brownish yellow, the dorsal two-thirds darker, the ventral one-third pale whitish. About 15 vertically elongated darker blotches on sides of body, some partially merged with others. Head with yellow stripes, one stripe running from snout tip through eye and onto upper margin of gill cover; another running below eye and bifurcating into two stripes on preopercle; a third stripe along upper margin of maxilla. One or two broader irregular stripes on nape. Dorsal fin yellow overall with dark distal margin on soft dorsal; pectoral fin yellow; pelvic fin mostly blackish, but base and spine pale whitish; anal spine pale, soft rays yellow near base and blackish over most of distal portion; caudal fin mostly yellow with prominent black tips on upper and lower lobes, posterior margin faintly blackish.

Size: Maximum size about 35 cm TL.

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION.— Over hard bottoms from the shore to about 90 m; from the Bay of Biscay to Guinea Bissau, including the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and also in the Mediterranean Sea.

REMARKS.— This is a common species that supports artisanal fisheries in the off-shore islands of the African coast as well as slong the continental coastline from the Bay of Biscay to Mauritania, and also in the Mediterranean Sea. The only record that we know of from the mainland coast of West Africa south of Mauritania is by (Heemstra and Anderson 2016) from off Guinea-Bissau.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED (2 spec.).— Canary Islands : CAS-SU 3108 (2, 150– 185 mm SL); Canary Is.; collector C.F. Cook.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Serranus atricauda. Adult from Faial Island, Azores. Photograph by Peter Wirtz.

FIGURE 3. Serranus atricauda. Juvenile from Faial Island, Azores. Photograph by Peter Wirtz.

FIGURE 4. Serranus atricauda. Adult yellow morph from Cape Verde Islands. Photograph by Reinhold Hanel.