Lethrinus harak (Forsskål in Niebuhr 1775)

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 171

Lethrinus harak (Forsskål in Niebuhr 1775) —Thumbprint emperor, blackspot emperor

Status at New Ireland. First recorded from Carteret Harbour, Lambom , New Ireland as Lethrinus azureus by Valenciennes [ex Quoy & Gaimard] in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1830b: 300), based on MNHN 9087. First recorded from New Hanover by Peters (1877: 834). Specimens observed by Jeff Kinch during CFMDP Survey at Kavieng fish market in 2004–2005, and by Barry C. Russell on 14 June 2014.

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1, 2, 3.—General distribution: Red Sea, East Africa, Madagascar and Mascarenes east to Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tonga, north to southern Japan, south to Timor Sea (Western Australia), New South Wales ( Australia) and New Caledonia. Found on various soft substrates associated with coral reefs, 1–20 m depth. Marine.