Bairdiella veraecrucis, Jordan & Dickerson, 1908

Marceniuk, Alexandre Pires, Molina, Eduardo Garcia, Caires, Rodrigo Antunes, Rotundo, Matheus Marcos, Wosiacki, Wolmar Benjamin & Oliveira, Claudio, 2019, Revision of Bairdiella (Sciaenidae: Perciformes) from the western South Atlantic, with insights into its diversity and biogeography, Neotropical Ichthyology 17 (1), pp. 1-18 : 14-15

Bairdiella veraecrucis Jordan & Dickerson, 1908

( Fig. 4d , Tables 4 , 5 )

Sciaena ronchus Jordan, 1886:44 ( United States; listed).

Bairdiella veraecrucis Jordan, Dickerson, 1908:16, fig. 1 (Veracruz, Mexico. Holotype: USNM 61676 . Paratypes: CAS–SU 20654 ) .

Bairdiella ronchus (not of Cuvier, 1830).– Jordan, Evermann, 1898: 1436 (in part; description; synonymy).– Castro-Aguirre et al., 1999:383 (fishes of Mexico; listed).– Nelson et al., 2004:146 (common names of fishes from the United States; listed).– McEachran, Fechhelm 2005:416 (fishes of the Gulf of Mexico; short description).– Page et al., 2013:151 (common and scientific names of fishes from the United States; listed).

Diagnosis. Bairdiella veraecruciscan be differentiated from B. armata (EP), which occurs between the Gulf of Califor- nia and Colombia (EP), by having 50-52 pored scales on the lateral line, rarely 49 (vs. 46-49, Tab. 5 ); from B. chrysoura , which is found between Cape Cod ( US) and the western Gulf of Mexico, by the presence of five pores on the chin (vs. six) and by a very robust second anal-fin spine, as long as the first anal-fin ray (vs. thin second anal-fin spine, shorter than first anal-fin ray, Fig. 4d ); from B. goeldi sp. nov., which is found on the Brazilian coast, by having an orbital diameter less than 8% SL (vs. more than 8% SL, Fig. 5a ), caudal pe- duncle length 2.8-3.7 times the orbital diameter (vs. 1.6-2.3, rarely more than 2.3, Fig. 5b ), and a relatively smaller head and longer dorsal fin ( Tab. 4 ), with dorsal fin length 1.2- 1.5 times the head length (vs. 1.7-2.4, Fig. 5c ), dorsal fin length and 1.2-1.5 times head depth (vs. 1.8-2.6, Fig. 5d ); from B. ensifera (EP), which is found between Mexico and Peru (EP), by having wavy stripes or spots on the flanks (vs. body silvery without stripes or spots, Fig. 4d ); from B. icistia (EP), which is found between the Gulf of California and Guatemala (EP), by having 22-24 rays on the dorsal fin (vs. 25-29, Tab. 5d ), 21-24 gill rakers on the first brachial arch (vs. 25-27, Tab. 4 ), and no dark spot at the base of pectoral fins (vs. with dark spot at base of pectoral fins); from B. ronchus (WA), which is found in the Greater Caribbean Central Province, by its relatively smaller head and longer dorsal fin ( Tab. 4 ), with dorsal fin length 1.2-1.5 times the head length (vs. 1.6-2.5, Fig. 5c ), and dorsal fin length 1.2-1.5 times the head depth (vs. 1.7-2.7, Fig. 5d ).

Molecular diagnosis. The haplotypes of B. veraecrucis differed by four bases from those of all the other Atlantic species analyzed, by nine bases from B. goeldi sp. nov., by 19 bases from B. ronchus , and by 97 bases from B. chrysoura ( Tab. 3 ), with genetic distances of 0.039±0.008 from B. goeldi sp. nov., 0.030±0.007 from B. ronchus , and 0.185±0.019 from B. chrysoura ( Tab. 2 ).

Description. Morphometric and meristic data are presen- ted in Tabs. 4 , 5. D. X +I.22-24; A.II.8; P. 16-18; gill rake- rs 21-24; pored lateral line scales 49-52; scale rows above lateral line 8-9, below 10-11. Body moderately long and compressed, maximum depth at origin of dorsal fin. Dorsal profile nearly straight, ascending until first dorsal fin origin, posteriorly slightly convex until caudal peduncle. Ventral profile straight from pelvic fin to anal fin. Head relatively short, low. Snout blunt in lateral view, dorsal profile naked. Mouth nearly terminal, oblique in lateral view; posterior tip of premaxilla reaching vertical through anterior margin of orbit. Teeth conical, premaxilla with two rows, external row with about 40 larger teeth; dentary with two rows, external row with about 35 larger teeth. Orbit lateral; eye round and relatively small, orbital diameter smaller than snout length. Interorbital space slightly convex, covered with cycloid scales. Nostrils visible with naked eye, anterior nostril oval, posterior nostril larger and teardrop like, close to anterior eye margin, over or nearly above horizontal line through middle of orbit. Lateral sensory canals on head visible on infraorbital, dentary and preopercle; five ventral pores on dentary tip, one small, central, oval, and two pores on each side. Preopercle margin serrated, with spines, two or three at angle largest. Opercle tip angled, slightly posterior to ver- tical through pectoral fin base. Gill rakers well developed. Scales ctenoid on trunk, belly, pectoral fin base and predor- sal region, cycloid on opercle, preopercle, infraorbital and interorbital. Lateral line simple, slightly arched below first dorsal fin to middle of second dorsal fin, straight elsewhere. First dorsal fin without scales, second dorsal fin with a row of cycloid scales on proximal half of membranes; membranes of anal fin covered by a row of cycloid scales, except at distal third; pectoral fin base covered by cycloid scales; caudal fin base covered by a cluster of small cycloid sca- les, rows of cycloid scales on nearly two thirds of caudal fin rays. Spinous dorsal fin short, first spine shortest, third spine longest; small notch between first and second dorsal fin; ori- gin of second dorsal fin slightly in front of vertical through pectoral tip, with second dorsal soft ray about the same len- gth of longest first dorsal spine. Anal fin short, emarginated (more prominently in small specimens), first spine as long and slightly stouter than last spine of first dorsal, second anal spine very stout and longer than remaining spines, width ne- arly two thirds of pupil diameter. Pectoral fin long, falcate, almost reaching vent; pelvic fin origin behind vertical thou- gh pectoral fin base; first pelvic fin longest, reaching vent. ±Caudal peduncle depth slightly larger than eye diameter, 8.7-10.8% SL, length 20.0-21.9% SL; caudal fin slightly rhomboidal, central rays longest.

Coloration. Grayish sections near the dorsal fin, but mostly silver above lateral line, silver below lateral line, tenuous bands of pigment on the flanks, oblique over lateral line and more or less parallel ventral to it. Distal portion of dorsal, anal and caudal fins black, pelvic fin yellowish and base of pectoral fin yellowish.

Distribution and habitat. Northern Greater Caribbean Province, Gulf of Mexico ( Fig. 3 ).

Material examined. CNPE 720 , 1, 236 mm SL, Mexico, Tabasco, Laguna La Redonda ; CNPE 2455 , 1, 152 mm SL, Mexico, Tamaulipas, Rio Soto la Marina , Vista Hermosa ; CNPE 1125 , 1, 173 mm SL, Mexico, Veracruz de Ignacio, Laguna de Tamiahua ; CNPE 4817 , 3 , 130- 168 mm SL, Mexico, Veracruz de Ignacio, Laguna de Tampamachoco ; CNPE 4882 , 2 , 155- 176 mm SL, Mexico, Veracruz de Ignacio, Laguna de Tampamachoco ; CNPE 11083 , 2 , 125- 130 mm SL, Mexico, Veracruz de Ignacio, Laguna de Tamiahua ; USNM 61676 , 1, 201 mm SL, Mexico, Veracruz, Jordan, D. S (Holotype) ; USNM 62275 , 1, 234 mm SL, Mexico, Tampico .

Figures

Fig. 4. A. Holotype of Bairdiella goeldi sp. nov. from Bragança, Pará, Brazil, 190 mm SL, MPEG 33641. B. Syntype of Corvina ronchus from the Dominican Republic, MNHN 0095. C. Syntype of Sciaena bedoti from Cuba, BMNH 1905.3.18.2. D. Holotype of Bairdiella veraecrucis from Veracruz, Mexico, USNM 61676.

Fig. 5. Plots of the standard length versus orbital diameter (A), head length versus dorsal fin length (B), and head depth versus dorsal fin length (C) in Bairdiella goeldi sp. nov. (circles), B. ronchus (triangles), and B. veraecrucis (squares).

Fig. 3. The Atlantic coast of North, Central, and South America showing the geographic distribution of Bairdiella goeldi sp. nov. (yellow = molecular north–northeastern lineage, light blue = molecular southeastern lineage, white = no molecular data), B. ronchus (red), and B. veraecrucis (green). Some symbols represent more than one locality or a large number of specimens.