Starksia robertsoni Baldwin, Victor & Castillo

Baldwin, Carole C., Castillo, Cristina I., Weigt, Lee A. & Benjamin C., Victor, 2011, Seven new species within western Atlantic Starksia atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri (Teleostei, Labrisomidae), with comments on congruence of DNA barcodes and species, ZooKeys 79, pp. 21-72 : 37-38

Starksia robertsoni Baldwin, Victor & Castillo sp. n. Figs 1911Table 2

Type Locality:

Panama, Central America

Holotype.

AMNH 249667, 22.0 mm female, sta. JVT-07-725, Islas de Las Dos Hermanas, Portobelo, Panama, 9°35'45"N, 79°40'05"W, 2 June 2007, J. Van Tassell, D. R. Robertson, L. Tornabene, B. Victor, E. Pena (not a DNA voucher).

Paratypes (all from Panama).

USNM 399909, 21.0 mm SL male, PAN 1419, Islas de Las Dos Hermanas, Portobelo, 9.59577N, 79.66801W, 2 Jun 2007; USNM 399910, 22.0 mm SL female (not a DNA voucher), same collection information as above; USNM 399911, 20.0 mm SL male (PAN 1418), USNM 399912, 16.0 mm SL immature (PAN 014), Salmedina Reef, Portobelo, 9.56289N, 79.69557W, 31 May 2007; USNM 399913, 18.0 mm SL male (not a DNA voucher), same collection information as above; AMNH 249640, 18.0 mm SL female, sta. JVT-07-710, Salmedina Reef, Portobelo, 9°33'54"N, 79°41'54"W, 30 May 2007 (not a DNA voucher); AMNH 249642, 21.5 mm SL female, sta. JVT-07-714, Salmedina Reef, Portobelo, 9°33'46"N, 79°41'44"W, 31 May 2007.

Diagnosis.

A species of Starksia distinguished by the following combination of characters: orbital cirrus present; belly scaled; trunk pale to dark tan (dark orange/tan to bright orange in life), without distinct bars or other markings; lips without conspicuous white spotting in life; ventral surface of lower jaw of males with one to three dark blotches or bars in preserved specimens, lips without distinct banding or dark bars; dorsal-fin elements usually XX,7 - 27 total; vertebrae usually 10+22=32; dorsal spines + anal soft rays + vertebrae modally 75.

Description.

See Table 2. Dorsal spines XIX–XX, usually XX (XX in holotype); segmented dorsal rays 7; total dorsal elements 26-27, usually 27 (27); anal spines II; segmented anal rays 15-17, usually 16 (16); dorsal segmented caudal-fin rays 7; ventral segmented caudal-fin rays 6; dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays 5-6 (5); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 3-6 (3); segmented pelvic-fin rays 2; pectoral-fin rays 13-14, usually 13 (13); vertebrae 10+21-22=31 or 32, usually 10+22=32 (10+21=31); infraorbital series with one pair of pores at 3 o’clock; orbital, nape, and anterior-nostril cirri present; belly and pectoral-fin base completely scaled.

Specimens examined ranging from 16.0-22.0 mm SL; HL 32-36% SL (32); male genital-papilla length between one-half and three-fourths length of first anal spine, papilla 0.6-1.9 mm and free from spine.

Pigment.

Color in life known only for two females. Trunk dark orange/tan to bright orange, color nearly uniform or with indistinct dark bars and pale areas; two small (less than half pupil diameter), inconspicuous dark spots on posterior portion of trunk, one at posterior end of dorsal fin and one at posterior base of anal fin. Head orange, mottled with white patches; a few small, pale spots present on lips and lacrimal region; eye with six or seven white spots around pupil, spots separated by darker areas (effectively a candy-stripe pattern). Bright orange spotting on dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, and some orange pigment on pectoral fin; pelvic fin clear.

Color in preservative.

Trunk ranging from pale to dusky, belly with fairly heavy pigment in males and some females even if trunk pale. Males usually with prominent dark blotch on cheek (largest male, USNM 399909, PAN1419, with dark spots on cheek but no conspicuous blotch), females without dark cheek blotch. Underside of lower jaw with one to three dark spots or bars in males, middle one (situated roughly beneath a vertical through pupil) darkest and sometimes the only one noticeable; anterior marking, if present, sometimes extending onto lower lip as a few dark dots; no dark spots, streaks, or bars on lips in either sex, but portions of lips uniformly covered with melanophores in males and with at least a few spots in females; females usually with patch or bar of pigment (small and faint in some specimens) extending from lacrimal region across both lips. In males, branchiostegals dusky, upper part of cheek, opercle, and top of head pale to dusky; in females, head mostly pale, with isolated patches of spots on cheek, opercle, top of head, and branchiostegals. Dorsal, anal, caudal, and pectoral fins dusky in males, mostly pale in females with a few scattered spots on some fins.

Etymology.

Named in recognition of the contributions by D. Ross Robertson of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to the understanding of the diversity of shorefishes of the New World and his generous facilitation of collecting in Panama.

Distribution.

Known only from Panama (Atlantic)