Clinus exasperatus, Holleman & Heyden & Zsilavecz, 2012

Holleman, Wouter, Heyden, Sophie Von Der & Zsilavecz, Guido, 2012, Delineating the fishes of the Clinus superciliosus species complex in southern African waters (Blennioidei: Clinidae: Clinini), with the validation of Clinus arborescens Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908 and Clinus ornatus Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908, and with descriptions of two new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166 (4), pp. 827-853 : 834-835

CLINUS EXASPERATUS SP. NOV.

FIGS 1 ; 2C–E ; 9

Holotype

SAIAB 98635 , male, 127 mm SL, collected by Sophie von der Heyden, speared, 2 m in kelp, Betty’s Bay , Western Cape, December 2008.

Diagnosis

A species of the Clinus superciliosus complex with XXXVIII, eight dorsal-fin elements, 16 pectoral finrays; deep bodied, depth 3.4 in SL; crest of first three spines, tall, triangular, separated by a shallow notch from the fourth spine; dentary pore pattern 3 + 2/ 2 + 3; orbital and nasal cirri simple; lips and chin with distinctive pattern of dark marks, branchiostegal membranes with small, dark spots.

Description

Dorsal fin XXXVIII, 8; anal fin II, 28; pectoral fins, 16; pelvic fins I, 2. Vertebrae, 18 + 33. Lateral line scales about 30 + 34, anterior portion with double pores to first ‘bend’. Head length 4.1, depth 3.4 in SL; eye diameter 4.0, maxilla 2.6, snout 5.4 in head length; dorsal-fin origin 1.5 in head length.

Head profile 75°; mouth downturned, maxilla extending to anterior margin of orbit; orbital cirrus small, flattened stalk, with one or more ‘indentations’ at end, its length less than pupil diameter ( Fig. 2D ). Dorsal crest tall, first spine tallest, about twice height of fourth spine, second and third spines decreasing in height, shallow notch after third spine; first six spines with single filament at tips, those on crest prominent.

Live colour: Not known; at the time of capture a juvenile was noted as being green, but lost all colour in preservative.

Colour in preservative ( Fig. 2E ): Body with five longitudinal stripes, uppermost with series of alternating dark and lighter blocks, some of the dark blocks with pale centres; second stripe light cream; third, immediately above posterior section of lateral line, grey with lighter areas; fourth, below lateral line and running from behind eye to base of caudal fin, pale with darker edges and some grey cross-hatching; fifth, between fourth and base of anal fin, pale. Head above mid-eye dark grey-brown with lighter areas behind eye; below mid-eye pale, with a dark grey-brown stipe from mid-eye to lower corner of opercle, lips and chin with distinctive pattern of grey-brown marks, branchiostegal membranes light with small, dark-brown spots; crest dark grey to black, remainder of dorsal fin grey, with darker strip along middle; caudal fin pale; anal fin light grey distally; pectoral-fin base cream with a dark-grey mark in centre and dark-grey mark at base of rays, fin light grey.

Etymology

‘Exasperatus’ is a Latinized form of ‘exasperate’; the species has been thus named because of the numerous, unsuccessful attempts by the second author to obtain additional specimens.

Comparisons

Clinus exasperatus sp. nov. is deeper bodied (depth 3.4 in SL; see Table 1) than any of the other ‘superciliosus’ species, and has a striped colour pattern and facial markings not seen in any of the other species.

Note

The juvenile specimen was lost, and is thus not included as a paratype.

GenBank accession numbers

JF320839 , JF320840 (mtDNA control region) ; JF320853 , JF320854 (mtDNA 16S rRNA) ; JF320867 , JF320868 (mtDNA 12S rRNA) ; JF320881 , JF320882 (rhodopsin) .

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of the six species of the Clinus superciliosus complex.

Figure 2. A, Clinus arborescens, Skoenmakerskop, aquarium photograph (M. J. Smale); B, orbital cirri; C, Clinus exasperatus sp. nov., SAIAB 98635, holotype, male, 127 mm SL, Betty’s Bay (drawn by Elaine Heemstra); D, orbital cirri; E, Clinus exasperatus, photograph of holotype (Sophie von der Heyden).

Figure 9. A, Bayesian tree of the combined mtDNA and nDNA fragments with a total of 2070 bp. Numbers at nodes are support values (ML above and Bayesian PP and MP below); values less than 50% are marked with - -; B, ML tree of the control region only showing the monophyly of the Clinus superciliosus and C. spatulatus clades. Only ML support values are shown.