Anampses caeruleopunctatus Rüppell, 1829

Russell, Barry C. & Craig, Matthew T., 2013, Anampses viridis Valenciennes 1840 (Pisces: Labridae) — a case of taxonomic confusion and mistaken extinction, Zootaxa 3722 (1), pp. 83-91 : 84-88

Anampses caeruleopunctatus Rüppell, 1829

Anampses caeruleopunctatus Rüppell, 1829: 42 , pl. 10, fig. 1 (type locality, Red Sea).

Anampses diadematus Rüppell, 1835: 21 , pl. 6, fig. 3 (type locality Tor, Red Sea).

Anampses lineolatus Bennett, 1836: 208 (type locality, Mauritius).

Anampses chlorostigma Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840: 9 (based on ms drawing and name of Ehrenberg - type locality, Red Sea).

Anampses viridis Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840: 13 (type locality, Mauritius).

Anampses taeniatus Liénard in Sauvage, 1891a: 457 (type locality, Mauritius).

Anampses rubro-viridis Liénard in Sauvage, 1891a: 458 (type locality, Mauritius).

Anampses pulcher Regan, 1913: 371 , pl. 58, fig. 3, pl. 59 (type locality, Easter Island). Anampses tinkhami Fowler, 1946: 162 , fig. 30 (type locality, Ryukyu Islands).

Diagnosis (modified after Randall 1972): Lateral-line scales 27; gill rakers 18–25; mid-dorsal region of nape naked or with small deeply embedded scales continuous across the dorsal part of nape (more apparent in dried specimens); body relatively elongate, the depth 2.3–3.2 in SL; body width 2.2–2.7 in depth; head length 2.6–3.1 in SL; snout 2.3–2.7 in head length; eye 2.6–3.7 in snout; dorsal spines flexible; caudal fin truncate to slightly rounded; pectoral fins 1.6–1.9 in head length; pelvic fins 2.1–2.5 in head length.

Maximum size of IP specimens, 238 mm SL (Myers (1991), and TP, 358 mm SL (Randall 1972).

Colour of IP ( Fig. 1 A, B): body brown to orange-brown, with a dark edged pale blue spot on each scale; head reddish-brown to orange-brown, with dark-edged narrow blue bands; dorsal fin brown to brownish-red with small dark-edged blue spots, a narrow blue margin and black submarginal line; anal fin brownish-red to red with 2 or 3 rows of small dark-edged blue spots, a narrow blue margin, and black submarginal line; caudal peduncle with reddish hue on upper and lower margins; caudal fin brown to reddish-brown with small dark-edged blue spots and blue margins; a dusky orange-red bar, edged in blue at pectoral base, the upper portion blackish.

Colour of TP ( Fig. 2 A, B): olive with a dark-edged blue vertical line on each scale of body (except on thorax, abdomen, and nape where the blue segments are shorter and variously oriented); head with irregular, narrow, darkedged, blue bands and a broad blue band across anterior interorbital space; many individuals with a broad light green bar on side centred on sixth dorsal spine, the area anterior to this and the region of the nape coloured reddish to reddish-brown; dorsal and anal fins reddish with broad margins and basal stripes of bright blue, the dorsal with a median band of small dark-edged blue spots and the anal with one or two blue stripes in middle of fin; caudal fin reddish with prominent blue margins and blue stripes along rays, but with an upper and lower zone of fin largely free of blue; an orange or orange-brown blue-edged bar at pectoral base, the upper portion of which is blackish. Colin & Bell (1991) report during courtship of Anampses caeruleopunctatus the blue band between the eyes and around the mouth, and the single light green bar on the body of the male became brighter.

Material examined: Anampses caeruleopunctatus —BMNH 1932.7.29, 2: 214-223 mm SL and BMNH 1982.11.26.300, 165 mm SL, Seychelles; MNHN 1990.688, 167 mm SL, Île Maurice ( Mauritius); MNHN 1965.227, 215 mm SL, Vietnam; MNHN A. 1874, 215 mm SL and MNHN1989.590, 260 mm SL, Îles Marquises (Marquesas Islands). Anampses viridis – MNHN A. 8243, 237 mm SL (paralectotype), MNHN A. 8244, 227 mm SL (lectotype) and MNHN 1695, 165 mm SL, Île Maurice.

Remarks: Rüppell’s (1829) description and figure ( Fig. 3) of Anampses caeruleopunctatus (SMF 2745, dried stuffed specimen) represents the IP colour form, and his subsequent description (Rüppell 1835) and figure ( Fig. 4 ) of Anampses diadematus (SMF 1580) is the TP colour form of this species. Bennett’s (1836) description of Anampses lineolatus (no types known) from Mauritius, although brief, also is consistent with that of the TP colour form. Similarly, Valenciennes’ (in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1840) description of Anampses chlorostigma , based on a drawing ( Fig. 5 ) and manuscript name of Ehrenberg, also fits that of the TP colour form. Regan’s (1913) description and figure ( Fig. 6 ) of Anampses pulcher (BMNH 1913.12.7.8.) from Easter Island, and Fowler’s (1946) description and figure ( Fig. 7 ) of Anampses tinkhami (ANSP 72041) from the Ryukyu Islands both are of the IP colour form of Anampses caeruleopunctatus .

Smith (1957) included Anampses rubroviridis and A. viridis as doubtful or unknown species, but considered A. viridis as a possible synonym of A. diadematus (= A. caeruleopunctatus ). In his revision of Anampses Randall (1972) regarded A. viridis as distinct from A. caeruleopunctatus and considered A. rubroviridis to be a synonym and possibly the male colour form of A. viridis .

Anampses viridis was described by Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1840) based on specimens collected by M. Lamarre-Piquot from the island of Mauritius. Two dried varnished specimens (MNHN A. 8243, 237 mm SL and A. 8244, 227 mm SL) in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, were recognised as types by Randall (1972), who designated one of these (MNHN A.8244) as the lectotype of this species. A third specimen in spirits (MNHN 1695, 165 mm SL), also from Mauritius, collected by Quoy & Gaimard was not recognised as a type. Re-examination of these specimens confirmed the diagnosis provided by Randall (1972) for A. viridis which, except for “small scales continuous across dorsal part of nape” and “dorsal spines pungent”, is virtually identical to that which he gave for A. caeruleopunctatus . Randall (1972) distinguished A. viridis from all other species of Anampses as having the mid-dorsal region of the nape with small scales which extend forward nearly to a vertical at posterior edge of eye. In the spirit specimen (MNHN 1695) however, the mid-dorsal region of the nape is naked, although small scales are clearly visible embedded in the skin on either side of the nape and may be covered by thick skin in the mid-dorsal region. In the dried specimens, these deeply embedded scales in the middorsal region may have become exposed as a result of drying and shrinkage of the overlaying skin during preservation of the dried varnished specimens, and we believe this feature is probably largely an artefact of preservation and therefore not a valid or reliable character. Similarly, whether the dorsal spines are flexible or pungent is not always easy to assess in species of Anampses , and we believe this character also should not be relied on.

The colour description of Anampses viridis given by Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1840), although brief, is consistent with the TP colour form of A. caeruleopunctatus (translation from Randall 1972):

“Entirely green on the body and fins; there was no trace of spots or bands on the head; the pectorals seemed to have some yellow on the terminal part of the lower rays; the upper rays were malachite green; the anal fin had a yellowish border”.

The Anampses viridis of Sauvage (1891a) from Madagascar ( Fig. 8 ) was regarded by Randall (1972) to be A. caeruleopunctatus , and its colour closely matches the TP of the latter. A translation of the original French description is:

“Body green, each scale being purple in the centre bearing a vertical line of bluish colour, so that the body is decorated with a series of diamond-shaped mesh of green spaces circumscribing purple; head of a green darker than the body. Dorsal fin of a purplish red, posterior with a few rounded spots of reddish colour. Caudal red. Anal with purplish-brown longitudinal lines: colour gray: a wide band of the same colour at the end of the fin, this band being broken by patches of purplish brown, ventral with a purple band between two outer radii. Base of pectoral yellowish, the rest of the fin being of a malachite green”.

No type specimens of Anampses rubroviridis are known. However, Liénard’s (1842) description of A. rubroviridis (‘ Anampses vert et rouge’) in Sauvage (1891a) closely matches that of A. viridis and also the TP colour of A. caeruleopunctatus . A translation of the description in Sauvage (from Randall 1972) is as follows:

“The nape from the dorsal fin to opposite the preopercle is bottle green lined with greenish blue. There is a large blackish green spot from the slightly projecting bump on the forehead to the nostrils which is broad in its inferior part and very narrow superiorly; this spot is surrounded by a circle of sky blue which joins with a band that encloses the eye and extends to the upper lip. The pupil of the eye is black and the iris is the color of fire. There are somewhat irregular blue streaks on the throat and around the lips. From the suprascapular region to an oblique demarcation between the sixth dorsal ray and the first anal ray the fish is blood red. All the rest up to the tail is light green which darkens as it approaches the caudal fin, especially dorsally, whereas the lower green part retains a little of the red color up to the caudal fin. All the scales of this fish have blue lines on the back and violet towards the anal fin (these lines less evident on the red part of the body). The dorsal fin is light green, bordered and speckled with light blue. The anal fin also has a broad blue border with three violet lines beneath. The first ray of the ventral fin, that of the pectoral, and eight rays of the caudal are blue; there is between each ray a streak of the same colour; the ninth ray on each side is red and the two internal ones are violet; the extremity of each of the intermediate rays is dirty white with a yellowish spot on the border”

The close resemblance in the foregoing colour descriptions of Anampses viridis and A. rubroviridis to the TP of A. caeruleopunctatus leads us to conclude that all three nominal species are identical and that A. viridis and A. rubroviridis should be regarded as junior synonyms of A. caeruleopunctatus .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Anampses diadematus (= TP of A. caeruleopunctatus), after Rüppell 1835: Pl. 6, Fig. 3.

FIGURE 5. Original ms drawing by Ehrenberg used by Valenciennes for his description of Anampses chlorostigma Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1840). Reproduction courtesy of Bibliothèque centrale, MNHN.

FIGURE 6. Anampses pulcher (= IP of A. caeruleopunctatus), after Regan 1913: Pl. 58, Fig. 3.

FIGURE 7. Anampses tinkhami (= IP of A. caeruleopunctatus), after Fowler, 1946: fig. 30.

FIGURE 8. Anampses viridis (= TP of A caeruleopunctatus), after Sauvage 1891 b: Pl. 45 Fig 3.

FIGURE 1. 1 a. Anampses caeruleopunctatus IP colour form, 164 mm SL, Marcus I., Japan (photo J. E. Randall). 1 b. Anampses caeruleopunctatus IP colour form, underwater photograph, Sodwana Bay, South Africa (photo D. Polack).

FIGURE 2. 2 a. Anampses caeruleopunctatus TP colour form, 203 mm SL, Gulf of Aqaba, Egypt (photo J. E. Randall). 2 b. Anampses caeruleopunctatus TP colour form, underwater photograph, Sodwana Bay, South Africa (photo D. Polack).