No abstract

No abstract

A new species of deepwater gurnard, Pterygotrigla (Otohime) madagascarensis sp. nov. is described, based on two specimens collected on the upper continental slope south of Madagascar, in the southwestern Indian Ocean. The new species belongs to the tropical Indo-Pacific subgenus Otohime in having a short rostral projection, short posttemporal spine, long opercular spine and no cleithral spine. It is most similar to P. (O.) multipunctata, and P. (O.) urashimai, in having no large blotch on the first dorsal fin, a jet-black blotch and no white ocellus on the inner pectoral-fin surface, with no scales on the breast and front of the pectoral-fin base. However, the new species differs from the latter two species by the combination of the following characters: first dorsal-fin spines 7, second dorsal-fin rays 12, dusky rays on the inner pectoral-fin surface, one row of blackish botches on second dorsal fin, and no papillae on the dorsal surface of oral cavity. A key is provided for the twelve Pterygotrigla species now in the subgenus Otohime.

No abstract

A southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO) percoid fish Serranus knysnaensis Gilchrist, 1904, was long synonymised with the comber, Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1758), from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Sea. However, when the species was brought out of synonymy by Heemstra & Heemstra (2004), reasons for this decision were not given. This study aims to revalidate the present taxonomic status of S. knysnaensis using morphological and molecular assessments. The two species are distinguished by the number of circumpeduncular scales (26–34 in S. knysnaensis versus 34–38 in S. cabrilla) and total gill rakers (18–22 versus 22–24). Serranus knysnaensis is also distinct from S. novemcinctus Kner, 1864, the other SWIO species of Serranus, based on total gill raker counts (18–22 versus 31–35). Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA barcode (COI) sequences for 17 Serranus species revealed three closely-related monophyletic clusters corresponding to S. cabrilla, S. novemcinctus and S. knysnaensis that were supported (P <0.001) by species delimitation methods. Even though the genetic distances among the three species were the lowest in the genus (1.60−1.99%), these species may be ecomorphs or lineages that have only recently diverged from each other. These three species also have allopatric distributions and our morphological and molecular data thus confirm that S. knysnaensis is a valid species.