Yellow Snout Seabream

description

Description. Meristic values counts and measurements as percentages of standard length (SL) for the holotype and eight paratypes of Dentex carpenteri n. sp. are in Table 1. Characters presented in the diagnosis are not repeated. Body compressed, very deep, especially in specimens <200 mm SL (Fig. 1); anterodorsal profile ascending abruptly, rostro-occipital profile somewhat convex, body slender; orbit diameter large, slightly greater than interorbital width; snout length much greater than orbit diameter; mandibular profile weakly convex; preopercle entire, with rounded angle; preopercular flange fully scaled; first to third dorsal-fin spines becoming progressively longer, third or fourth dorsal-fin spine longest; predorsal length clearly less than body depth, slightly less than dorsal-fin base length; pectoral-fin tip reaching to or beyond first anal-fin spine base, pectoral-fin length greater than head length; anal-fin spines stout, second usually more stout and usually longest, longer than orbit diameter; caudal fin weakly forked, lobes short, broad; most upper gill rakers on lower limb of gill arch long, a few lower gill rakers sometimes abruptly shortened or rudimentary. Color

Dentex carpenteri, a new species of deepwater seabream from Western Australia (Pisces: Sparidae)

diagnosis

Diagnosis. A species of the Dentex hypselosomus complex (Iwatsuki et al. 2007) with the following combination of characters: posterior hind margin of upper jaw not reaching to or reaching slightly beyond vertically through anterior margin of eye; often yellow wide region in greater part from snout to infraorbital plus often yellow upper jaw; deeper suborbital depth (9.7 – 10.9 % SL; Fig. 3 A); orbit diameter larger (11.7 – 13.5 % SL Fig. 3 B); considerably deeper body, especially in specimens of about 100 − 200 mm SL (50.0 – 55.0 % SL; Fig. 1 A – B).

Dentex carpenteri, a new species of deepwater seabream from Western Australia (Pisces: Sparidae)

discussion

Remarks. Nominal species were discussed by Iwatsuki et al. (2007). Dentex spariformis Ogilby, 1910 has long been considered a junior synonym of D. tumifrons (= D. hypselosomus of Iwatsuki et al. 2007; Allen, 1997; Akazaki and Séret, 1999; Carpenter, 2001) but Iwatsuki et al. (2007) regarded Dentex spariformis as a valid species, known only from northern and northeastern Australia, Bali, and Lombok Island, southern Indonesia, and the Arafura Sea (fig. 6 of Iwatsuki et al. 2007), at depths between about 100 and 264 m, being a deeper water inhabitant. A large photographed fish (Fig. 2, about 310 mm SL) was collected from Western Australia before the type material was collected. This specimen was lost but tissue was taken, and the sequence data confirmed that this was a specimen of D. carpenteri n. sp. The types of D. carpenteri n. sp. were compared with example of the four known valid species from the western Pacific: Dentex abei and D. hypselosomus from the Northern Hemisphere, and D. fourmanoiri and D. spariformis from the Southern Hemisphere, respectively. We concluded that the specimens of the Dentex species from Western Australia are a distinct new species with clear morphologica

Dentex carpenteri, a new species of deepwater seabream from Western Australia (Pisces: Sparidae)

distribution

Distribution. Dentex abei, D. fourmanoiri, D. hypselosomus, and D. spariformis have allopatric and nonequatorial distributions in the western Pacific (fig. 5 of Iwatsuki et al. 2007). In the Northern Hemisphere, D. abei is currently known only from the Ryukyu Islands including the Okinawa Trough, and Ogasawara Islands, Japan, northeastern Taiwan, and off Luzon Island, Philippines; D. hypselosomus is currently known from the East Asian Shelf, including southern Japan (except the Ryukyu and the Ogasawara Islands), southern Korea, Taiwan (generally the western part of Taiwan), and China. In the Southern Hemisphere, Iwatsuki et al. (2007) reported that D. spariformis is distributed off Australia (except the southwestern part), while D. formanoiri is currently known only from off New Caledonia, including the Chesterfield Islands. The type specimens of D. carpenteri n. sp. were collected at depths between 200 - 215 m, and appear to be a much deeper inhabitant than the other species (Iwatsuki et al. 2007). Although we could not specify the exact distributional boundary between D. carpenteri n. sp. and D. spariformis, the distribution pattern of these species may follow a similar pattern t

Dentex carpenteri, a new species of deepwater seabream from Western Australia (Pisces: Sparidae)