Starksia sangreyae Castillo & Baldwin

Baldwin, Carole C., Castillo, Cristina I., Weigt, Lee A. & Benjamin C., Victor, 2011, Seven new species within western Atlantic Starksia atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri (Teleostei, Labrisomidae), with comments on congruence of DNA barcodes and species, ZooKeys 79, pp. 21-72 : 26-27

Starksia sangreyae Castillo & Baldwin sp. n. Figs 124Table 1

Starksia atlantica , Greenfield and Johnson (1981), Fieldiana Zoology 8: Fig. 3 A–B (black and white drawings of male and female specimens from Belize)

Type Locality:

Belize, Central America

Holotype.

USNM 398932, BLZ 5111, male, 16.0 mm SL, sta. CB05-9, south side of island, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, 1-2 m, 25 April 2005, C. Baldwin, D. Smith, L. Weigt, J. Mounts (small fillet removed from right side for DNA tissue sampling).

Paratypes (all Belize).

Note - posterior portion of body destroyed for DNA tissue sampling of all paratypes except USNM 276147 and 321073, which are not DNA vouchers. USNM 398939, BLZ 8031, female, 18.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-2, sand bottom and coral heads, Curlew Cay, 16°47'24.1"N, 88°04'41.0"W, 5-8 m, 15 May 2008. USNM 398933, BLZ 5033, female, 16.5 mm SL, sta. CB05-3, spur and grove, Carrie Bow Cay, 9-22 m, 22 April 2005. USNM 398936, BLZ 8028, male, 17 mm SL, sta. CB08-2 (see CB08-2 above). USNM 398934, BLZ 5161, female, 17.0 mm SL, sta. CB05-12, Curlew Cay, 15-21 m, 27 April 2005. USNM 398935, BLZ 5206, female, 12.0 mm SL, sta. CB05-13, Belize (no other collection data available), 29 April 2005. USNM 398937, BLZ 8029, male, 17.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-2 (see CB08-2 above). USNM 398938, BLZ 8030, female, 19.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-2 (see CB08-2 above). USNM 398940, BLZ 8353, female, 16.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-32, Tobacco Cay, 16°53'23.8"N, 88°03'53.8"W, 0-5 m, 25 May 2008. USNM 276147, male, 15.0 mm SL, sta. GDJ 84-14, off northwest end of Carrie Bow Cay, 2-3 m, 7 Nov 1984. USNM 321073, female, 18.0 mm SL, sta. GDJ 90-2, reef flat and crest, coral rubble and sand substrate, Carrie Bow Cay, 3-6 ft., 18 Sep 1990.

Additional Material (not DNA vouchers).

Belize: USNM 398943, 4 specimens; USNM 398944, 2; USNM 398945, 4; USNM 321066, 1; USNM 276068, 1; USNM 398941, 1; USNM 398942, 1.

Diagnosis.

A species of Starksia distinguished by the following combination of characters: no orbital cirrus, regular vertical brown bars on trunk separated by narrow white interspaces, and a well defined horseshoe-shaped blotch of dark pigment on cheek.

Description.

See Table 1. Dorsal spines XIX–XX, usually XIX (XIX in holotype); segmented dorsal rays 7-8 (8); total dorsal elements 26-27, usually 27 (27); anal spines II; segmented anal rays 14-16, usually 15 (15); dorsal segmented caudal-fin rays 7; ventral segmented caudal-fin rays 6; dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays 5-6, usually 6 (6); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 4-6, usually 5 (5); segmented pelvic-fin rays 2; pectoral-fin rays 14-15, rarely 15 (14); vertebrae 10+21-22= 31-32, rarely 31(10+22=32); 1-4 pairs of infraorbital pores, usually 4 pairs between 3 and 6 o’clock (4 pairs); orbital cirri absent; nape cirri present; anterior nostril cirri present; belly and pectoral-fin base naked or with only a few rows of scales anterior to the anus.

Specimens examined ranging from 12.0 to 19.0 mm SL; HL 29-34% SL (31% in holotype); male genital papilla adhered to first anal spine proximally; papilla length between two-thirds and three-quarters length of first anal spine, 0.6-1.0 mm; some females with very small genital papilla.

Pigment.

Vertical brown bars present on trunk separated by narrow white interspaces; anteriormost 6 bars relatively uniform in all specimens; posterior bars often irregular or incompletely formed. A thick horseshoe-shaped blotch of pigment present on cheek. Bright orange pigment present on distal portions of pectoral-fin rays, and pale orange pigment usually present on distal portions of posterior anal-, caudal-, and soft dorsal-fin rays. Color pattern sexually dimorphic: males with pale red heads (vs. females without red coloration); relatively poorly defined horseshoe-shaped blotch of pigment on cheek that fades posteriorly (well-defined horseshoe-shaped blotch on cheek that is sometimes mirrored on operculum and pectoral fin base); body bars tan and usually with some gold or green color in life (darker and without green/gold color but some posterior bars often with some orange pigment); body bars usually terminating ventrally dorsal to ventral midline (body bars usually extending to ventral midline); blotches of tan/gold pigment on base of dorsal fin associated with body bars, and no tan/gold color present on anal fin (bright orange markings on base of dorsal fin associated with body bars and several bright orange spots on base of anal fin); and large dark spot, roughly diameter of pupil or larger, on trunk at posterior end of dorsal fin (two large dark spots on trunk, one at posterior end of dorsal fin similar in size to that of males, and smaller spot at posterior end of anal fin).

Color in preservative.

Vertical bars on trunk, horseshoe-shaped blotch of pigment on cheek, and spot at posterior end of dorsal fin (and anal fin in females) retained in preservative; margins of at least some body bars in females with small dark spots; prominent patches of melanophores on jaws and gular region, and scattered pigment (heavier in females) on rest of head; dorsal fin ranging from overall dusky to having concentrations of pigment on base of fin associated with body bars; caudal fin with light pigment on outer rays, and pectoral fin with scattered melanophores over entire fin; pelvic fin clear.

Etymology.

The species name is in honor of Mary Sangrey for her many years of work coordinating the intern program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Mary brought the intern application of the second author to the first author’s attention and took the first steps toward procuring funding for Castillo’s internship.

Distribution.

All material that we examined is from Belize. The range of the species also apparently includes Honduras, as Greenfield and Johnson (1981) noted that a specimen of Starksia atlantica from Honduras has regular vertical bars of pigment on the body.