Descriptions of fishes from the coast of Natal

Identity and distribution of southern African sciaenid fish species of the genusUmbrina

“…Palmer 1966, van der Elst 1981, Heemstra 1986, Chao and Trewavas 1990, Branch et al 1994, Sasaki 1996 have referred to specimens from South African waters and the western Indian Ocean as U. ronchus. We believe that the species name U. robinsoni (Gilchrist and Thompson 1908) is valid (see description and comparisons below) and that U. ronchus is limited in distribution to the eastern Atlantic.…”

“…The latter two species names were ascribed to deep-bodied South African specimens with a large orbit and high dorsal ray count by Gilchrist and Thompson (1908, 1911, 1917, Barnard (1927) and Smith (1949, as Sciaena sinuata). Later authors described specimens from South Africa as U. canariensis (inter alia Heemstra 1986and Chao and Trewavas 1990, based on Trewavas (1977 description of specimens from the region) and Sasaki (1996) who examined 26 specimens, 13 of which came from South Africa (Table 1).…”

Systematic study on the barracudas (Pisces: Sphyraenidae) from a northern sector of the South China Sea

“…Some previous ichthyologists [Sehultz (1953), Smith (1956), and the others] regarded or considered it as the fish with two gill-rakers. However, judgin~ from its description and figure, Sphyraena chinensis shows greater atfinity with S. africana Gilchrist and Thompson, 1909 rather than with S. pinguis Giinther, 1874 found in this area, since its first dorsal origin is opposite the ventral origin, there are 9 rays on the anal and its maxilla reaches beyond the front part of eye which differ from all other two gill-raker forms. The two gill-raker forms found in this area (as well as those found in other parts of the world) have maxillaries reaching well before the eyes by about the width of the pupil and the first dorsal origin is clearly behind the ventral origin.…”

“…The description of S. heUeri Fowler, 1935 (from Hong Kong and Shanghai, p. 276-279) is not the form of S. helleri Jenkins, 1901 but the form of the species S. africana Gilchrist and Thompson, 1909, since its lateral line scales are 110-125, the first dorsal origin is before the ventral origin, the posterior lower edge of preoperculum is obtuse (see table 4) and the maxilla reaches hind nostril or front eye edge which agree exactly with S. africana Gilchrist and Gilchrist and Thompson, 1909 Type specimen Smith (1956) Williams ( Jenkins, 1901 also has 123 lateral line scales, but the first dorsal origin is clearly behind the ventral origin over the ventral base from its well drawn figure, the maxillary reaches a considerable distance from the front edge of the eye, the posterior lower edge of preoperculum is obtusely rounded and characterized by a rather short pectoral fin ending well before the first dorsal origin, all these features are similar in S. novaehollandiae Giinther, 1860. Chu andLo (1963) described the posterior lower edge of preoperculum for S. japonica (as well as S. japonica Tanaka, 1935 from Japan) as being rounded and smooth thus confirming the presence of this species in the East China Sea, South East of Japan and Korea (pp.…”

Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus, a new species of sweetlips (Perciformes: <br />Haemulidae) from northern Australia and the resurrection of P. unicolor (Macleay, 1883), species previously confused with P. schotaf (Forsskål, 1775)

“…Despite this, several authors (eg Roux, 1986, Eschmeyer, 2015 have incorrectly listed P. griseus as a junior synonym of P. schotaf. Smith also determined that P. durbanense (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908) was a junior synonym of P. schotaf, noting that the holotype, SAM 10383, has been lost since at least 1962 , Eschmeyer, 2015. Plectorhinchus umbrinus (Klunzinger, 1870) appears to have no unique features, but has many characters common to both P. schotaf and P. sordidus (Klunzinger, 1870).…”