Buenia affinis Iljin, 1930

Kovačić, Marcelo, Ordines, Francesc & Schliewen, Ulrich K., 2018, A new species of Buenia (Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the western Mediterranean slope bottoms, the redescription of Buenia jeffreysi and the first Balearic record of Buenia affinis, Zootaxa 4392 (2), pp. 267-288 : 282-283

Buenia affinis Iljin, 1930

Material. PMR VP4111 , three females: 30.3 + 6.5 mm, 28.9 + 6.3 mm ( Fig. 8a and 8b ), 28.5 + 6.7 mm, male 28.7 + 7.0 mm, Spain, Balearic Islands, Migjorn Mallorca ( Cabrera ), 39.2302ºN, 2.9888ºE, mud, 48 m depth, coll. Ordines, Lombarte & Kovačić, IEO-COB, 9 June 2016, trawl.

Diagnosis. (1) posterior oculoscapular canal present; (2) sensory papillae row c with 5 papillae; (3) A I/7; (4) P 15-16; (5) D 1 II in males not elongate; (6) V anterior membrane about 1/3–1/2 of spinous ray in midline depth; (7) head with length 27.5–30.9% of SL; (8) eyes with eye diameter 23.3–30.3% of head length; (9) Upper part of body fawn, with pale saddles at nape, origin of D1, origin of D2, end of D2, on caudal peduncle and on the origin of C. Reticulate pattern, formed by dark markings along the scale margins, between saddles. Below saddles four vertical irregular black to grey marks along lateral midline and longitudinal T-shaped or triangular shaped mark on caudal origin, with 2–3 light, vertical brown lines between marks (visible only in adults); (10) D1 with three light brown to grey bands and dark blotch on membrane around D 1 VI.

Remarks. Except for the head lateral line canals, the Balearic sample of B. affinis matches in morphology the only published detailed description of B. affinis ( Kovačić 2002) , based on material from Adriatic Sea, the short descriptions of Kovačić & Patzner (2009) of B. affinis from Banyuls-sur-Mer in France and the material from Engin et al. (2014) from Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara. In the Balearic specimens, the anterior oculoscapular canal is semi-closed with pores σ, λ, Κ, α, ρ and additional pores and open furrows ( Fig. 8b ) and the posterior oculoscapular canal is present as open furrow. It is puzzling that B. lombartei sp. nov., B. massutii and Balearic population of B. affinis share variable degrees of incomplete head canals contrary to eastern records of B. affinis and contrary to B. jeffreysii , both with completely closed head canals. Although the closure of head canals in gobies usually happens during ontogeny in early juvenile stages (Kovačić et al. 2013, Kovačić unpublished data), the modification and loss of their head canals is a common phenomenon, sometimes observed within a species across habitat ecotones (Stelbrink & Freyhof 2006). This suggests that retention of semiclosed canals in Buenia affinis , B. massutii and B. lombartei sp. nov. is a paedomorphic character that is possibly selected and favored in Baleric habitats. Another possibility is that it is artefact of sampling method. However, the oval openings on head canals of these species have a regular shape ( Figs. 3c and 8b ), with no traces of broken membranes and with clean inside of canals, i.e. having no granular particles that might have caused damage (contrary, for example, to syntype BMNH 1867.8.24.3–5 of B. jeffreysii , whose canal roof membrane is obviously damaged and the canal space is filled with sand particles). In addition, another species, S. llorisi ( Kovačić et al 2016), was collected with the same methods and with closed canals having just regular pores. Until specimens of any of these species, i.e. B. lombartei sp. nov., B. massutii and Balearic population of B. affinis , would be collected in the area with completely closed head canals and having just regular pores the observed semiclosed canals should be treated as a morphological character genuine to these populations.

Compared with the detailed morphological description of B. affinis from the Adriatic ( Kovačić 2002), the Balearic material also slightly extended the range of head length to SL (27.5–30.7% to 30.9%) and eye diameter to head length (23.3–30.1% to 30.3%). Furthermore, a longitudinal T-shaped mark on the caudal origin is present in Adriatic and in some Balearic specimens, but in some Balearic specimens it is more triangular shaped ( Fig. 8a ). B. affinis differs from congeneric species by the following diagnostic characters listed in B. affinis Diagnosis: B. jeffreysii by (2), (3), (4), (5), (9), (10); B. lombartei sp. nov. by (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10); B. massutii by (1), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10).

Figures

FIGURE 3. B. lombartei sp. nov.: a) adult urogenital papilla shape of paratype female ZSM 46818, 26.0 mm SL; holotype male PMR VP4108, 27.5 mm SL: b) adult urogenital papilla shape, c) anterior oculoscapular canal semiclosed with additional pores or open furrows, d) sensory papillae enlarged, elongate and reduced in number in rows.

FIGURE 8. B. affinis, preserved specimens: a) PMR VP4111, female, 30.3+6.5 mm, Spain, Balearic Islands, Migjorn Mallorca (Cabrera), b) anterior oculoscapular canal semiclosed with additional pores or open furrows of the same specimen, c) PMRVP3916, female, 28.9 + 6.3 mm, Croatia, the Adriatic Sea, Island of Brač, Bol.