Pempheris vanicolensis Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 178

Pempheris vanicolensis Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831 —Vanikoro sweeper

Status at New Ireland. New record, based on specimen photographed at Lissenung Island, Kavieng District, 20 m depth, by Dean Tully on 8 July 2011; a video of a specimen taken at Nubilus Island , off eastern New Hanover , 3–25 m depth, St. KR 90, in 2014 (identified by Barry C. Russell).

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1, 2.—General distribution: Red Sea and East Africa east to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Found in coral and rocky reefs, hiding in caves during the day; also entering estuaries and freshwater streams, 1–25 m depth. Marine.

Remark. As the genus Pempheris is currently being revised by John E. Randall and collaborators, the classification of this species is provisional and may change at a later stage.