Upeneus saiab, Uiblein & Lisher, 2013

Uiblein, Franz & Lisher, Mark, 2013, A new goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from Angoche, northern Mozambique, Zootaxa 3717 (1), pp. 85-95 : 86-92

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3717.1.7
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0FB04DC9-E9D5-4848-8356-CEDDBD59E249
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/89461EEA-5BB2-4714-83BF-E288701D192B
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:89461EEA-5BB2-4714-83BF-E288701D192B
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Upeneus saiab
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Upeneus saiab View in CoL n. sp.

SAIAB goatfish

( Figs. 1–2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 ; Table 1)

Holotype. SAIAB 188298 About SAIAB (102 mm SL), Mozambique, Angoche , Nampula province, 16˚2.75' S 40˚20.26' E, FAO / ASCLME/SWIOFP survey 2009, RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, station 29, 29- 40 m, bottom trawl, 14/Aug/2009.

Paratypes. SAIAB 188299 About SAIAB (5: 70–88 mm SL), Mozambique, Angoche , Nampula province, same locality and collection data as for holotype .

Diagnosis. Dorsal fins VII + 9; pectoral fins 14–15; gill rakers 8–9 + 20–21 = 29; lateral-line scales 29–30; body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 21–24; body depth at anus 17–19; caudal-peduncle depth 8.7–9.2; maximum head depth 18–20; head depth through eye 15–17; interorbital length 7.0–8.2; head length 29–30; postorbital distance 12–13; orbit length 6.8–7.5; upper jaw length 9.5–12; barbel length 19–22; interdorsal distance 14–16; caudal-fin length 27–29; anal-fin height 14–16; pelvic-fin length 20–21; pectoral-fin length 20–21; first dorsal-fin height 19–22; second dorsal-fin height 14–16; upper lobe of caudal fin with 5 red oblique bars including one on tip; lower caudal-fin lobe covered mostly with red pigmentation ending in a black tip; barbels white; body and postorbital region ventrally white and dorsally ochre, bordered at mid body by a faint lateral pale ochre stripe from behind eye to caudal base, head ochre from snout to cheek and ventrally white; preserved fish pale brown, bars on upper caudal-fin lobe and the lower lobe pigmented tip only weakly retained.

Description. Morphometric data as ratios of SL for holotype, data for paratypes in brackets: body moderately deep, its depth at first dorsal-fin origin 4.2 [4.5–4.9]; body depth at anal-fin origin 5.5 [5.2–6.1]; head depth through eye 5.8 [6.2–6.6]; head length 3.4 [3.3–3.4], larger than maximum depth of body and caudal-fin length (3.6 [3.4–3.7]); snout length 9.0 [9.4–10], shorter than postorbital length (8.0 [7.6–8.0]); postorbital distance 8.0 [7.6– 8.0]; first dorsal-fin height 4.9 [4.6–5.2]; second dorsal-fin height 6.9 [6.1–6.8]; barbel length 4.6 [4.9–5.3]; pectoral-fin length 4.8 [4.7–5.0], subequal to pelvic-fin length (4.8 [4.7–4.9]); orbit length 15 [13–15], smaller than caudal-peduncle depth (11 [11]).

Fresh colour ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ): ventral half of body and postorbital region of head white and dorsal half ochre, bordered by a faint pale-ochre lateral stripe at mid body from behind eye to caudal base; head from tip of snout to cheek dorsally ochre and ventrally white; barbels white; caudal fin with 5 oblique red bars on upper lobe including one at lobe tip, all of similar width and narrower than hyaline interspaces between them; no clear bar pattern can be recognized on lower-caudal fin lobe which is mostly covered with red pigmentation, except for pale to pale-brown nuances at dorsal margin and anterior ventral third of lobe being partly pale overlain with red patches, becoming increasingly red distally and being bordered by red pigmentation dorsally and ventrally; lower caudal-fin lobe ends in a dark tip; first dorsal fin hyaline, covered with irregular patches of red pigmentation that become larger towards anterior fin base, fin tip without pigmentation; second dorsal fin hyaline with three red bands, one at base, one at mid of fin and one broader distal one below the unpigmented fin tip; paired fins hyaline; anal fin hyaline, rays proximally white.

Preserved colour ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Head and body uniformly pale brown, becoming darker on dorsal half; head with dark patches above snout tip; opercle partly transparent; fin pigmentation mostly lost, remains of bars on upper caudal-fin lobe, a few nuances of pigmentation along both margins of posterior lower lobe, dark lower-lobe fin tip faintly retained.

Distribution. Currently only known from types collected off Angoche, northern Mozambique, Western Indian Ocean, at 29–40 m depth.

Etymology. The name “ saiab ” is used as a noun in apposition and is given to honor the importance and invaluable contributions of the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) as the primary scientific collection for taxonomic and systematic studies of the fish fauna of the Western Indian Ocean.

Comparisons and Remarks. Upeneus saiab n. sp. differs from all congeneric species in the following combination of characteristics ( Table 1): seven dorsal-fin spines, 29 total gill rakers (20–21 rakers on lower limb), body depth at anal-fin origin 17–19% SL, and pectoral-fin length 20–21% SL.

It differs from the three WIO species of the japonicus group as follows ( Table 1A, Figs. 1–2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 ): from U. guttatus in shallower body depth at anal-fin origin, shallower caudal peduncle, longer postorbital distance, longer barbels, more pectoral-fin rays, more gill rakers, and presence of lateral body stripe in fresh fish; from U. pori it differs in shallower body depth at anal-fin origin, longer head, longer and wider barbels, lower anal fin, more gill rakers, and absence of oblique bars on lower caudal-fin lobe in both fresh and preserved fish; and from U. seychellensis it differs in shallower caudal peduncle, shorter snout, wider barbels, longer second dorsal-fin base, longer anal-fin base, larger pectoral-fin width, more gill rakers, and barbels white vs pale reddish in fresh fish.

Upeneus saiab n. sp. differs from non-WIO species of the japonicus group as follows ( Table 1B): from U. asymmetricus in shallower body, narrower interorbital distance, longer head, longer barbels, more pectoral-fin rays, more total gill rakers, and absence of oblique bars on lower caudal-fin lobe; from U. australiae it differs in shallower caudal-peduncle, shallower maximal head depth, longer barbels, higher number of gill rakers, and absence of oblique bars on lower-caudal fin lobe; from U. francisi it differs in shallower and wider caudal peduncle, shallower head through eye, shorter head, longer and wider barbels, longer second dorsal-fin basis, shorter paired fins, less gill rakers, more lateral-line scales, and no lateral body stripe in fresh fish; from U. itoui it differs in shallower body, shallower, narrower, and shorter caudal-peduncle, deeper head through eye, shorter snout, longer and wider barbels, lower anal fin, shorter paired fins, wider pectoral fins, lower second dorsal fin, more gill rakers, and no oblique bars on lower-caudal-fin lobe; and it differs from U. japonicus in shallower body, longer head, longer postorbital length, wider barbels, longer caudal fin, shorter pectoral fins, more gill rakers, and presence of lateral body stripe and barbels white vs yellow in fresh fish.

Upeneus saiab n. sp. is distinct from all congeneric species in the combination of meristic, morphometric and colour characters. There is weak resemblance only with U. pori and U. asymmetricus in morphology and with U. seychellensis in colour. Similarly to the latter, U. saiab n. sp. lacks oblique bars on the lower caudal-fin lobe ( Figs. 1a, d View FIGURE 1 ; 2a, d View FIGURE 2 ). The pale-brown nuances along the margins of the lower caudal-fin lobe in U. saiab might be interpreted as remains of reduced bars, but there is no evidence of the presence of any bars overlain by the red pigmentation of that lobe as found, for example, in U. margarethae (see also Uiblein & Heemstra 2010).

Comparisons of in situ photographs of U. pori from Elat, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, published in the original description of this species (Ben-Tuvia & Golani 1989) with photographs from Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa ( Figure 1e, f View FIGURE 1 ) confirms its presence in South Africa. In both photographs ( Figs. 1e, f View FIGURE 1 ) the typical caudal-fin pattern of this species becomes apparent, with 5–8 oblique bars along the ventral side of the lower fin lobe, followed by a solid brown space at the inner lobe region, and 3–5 bars along the dorsal lobe margin ( Figs. 1c View FIGURE 1 , 2c View FIGURE 2 ). Therefore, the distributional range of this species can now be regarded as reaching from the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean (as a Lessepsian migrant) in the north and to Madagascar and South Africa in the south.

This study contributes to enhanced identification of the recently described U. itoui which, in the original description, was only compared in detail with U. pori ( Yamashita et al. 2011) . The most important diagnostic finding is that U. itoui has a shallower head across a vertical midline through eye compared to all other species of the japonicus group ( Table 1), a character not studied by Yamashita et al. (2011).

Two specimens of U. cf. japonicus identified by Motomura et al. (2012) from the southeastern Malayan Peninsula (Kuala Terrengganu, Malaysia), kindly provided by Hiroyuki Motomura (KAUM) for comparisons, were found to overlap in all characters with U. japonicus from the Eastern South China Sea and Japan. Hence, the present study extends the species range for U. japonicus to the western part of the South China Sea.

A single specimen from Vietnam (ZMUC P49483) assigned to U. australiae by Uiblein & Heemstra (2010) was here re-assigned to Upeneus sp.1 due to the caudal-fin colour patterns differing from U. australiae , requiring further taxonomic studies. Hence, there is currently no evidence of the distributional range of U. australiae extending beyond the waters surrounding tropical and subtropical Australia and New Caledonia ( Randall & Kulbicki 2006).