Doncella de Dos Manchas

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Dorsal-fin rays XII, 8 – 10; anal-fin rays III, 12; pectoral-fin rays 16; lateral-line scales 30 or 31; predorsal scales 7 – 10, not reaching anterior to interorbital; gill rakers 14 - 16; body moderately elongate, the depth 3.6 - 4.0 in SL; snout short, 3.7 – 4.2 in head length; eye large, slightly larger than snout in juveniles, smaller in adults; caudal fin rounded; pelvic fins short, not reaching anus; adults yellow on body dorsal to a narrow red stripe from eye to base of caudal fin, pink below with indistinct narrow yellow bars; an irregular, ocellated black spot in adults posteriorly on opercle over red stripe; a pupil-size dark brown spot on base of caudal fin at end of red stripe (relatively larger and rimmed with pale blue in young). Largest specimen, 7.0 cm SL.

Four new records of shore fishes for the Red Sea, with notes on Parupeneus heptacanthus and Diodon liturosus

discussion

Remarks. The second author observed one individual of this species at 28 m while ascending from a deep dive off Jeddah in 1981, with no bottom time remaining to collect the fish. He returned to the same area the next day, but failed to find the species. The present Red Sea record is based on the underwater photograph of a subadult (Fig. 4) taken off Jeddah by Richard Field. Figure 5 provides a photograph of an adult taken in Mauritius. The color pattern of Figure 4 is approximately intermediate to that of a juvenile from Japan illustrated by Gomon (2006) as Plate I C and the initial-phase adult from Bali of his Plate I D. An underwater photo of one from the Maldive Islands illustrated in color by Randall & Anderson (1993, pl. 5, fig. H) provides a link between the subadult of Figure 4 and the initial-phase adult in Gomon (2006). Bodianus bimaculatus is known from depths of 20 to more than 60 m, generally deeper than 30 m. It is the smallest species of the genus, with females maturing at 4 cm SL (Gomon, 2006).

Four new records of shore fishes for the Red Sea, with notes on Parupeneus heptacanthus and Diodon liturosus

distribution

Distribution. Reported from Japan, Palau, New Caledonia, Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Mauritius, and Madagascar.

Four new records of shore fishes for the Red Sea, with notes on Parupeneus heptacanthus and Diodon liturosus

distribution

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 2. — General distribution: Red Sea, Madagascar, Mauritius (Mascarenes); eastern Indonesia east to Palau and New Guinea, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia and northern New Zealand. Found on steep seaward reef slopes, 30 – 70 m depth. Marine.

Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records