Sarksia langi Baldwin & Castillo

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 : 44-48

Sarksia langi Baldwin & Castillo sp. n. Figs 1315Table 3

Type Locality:

Belize, Central America

Holotype.

USNM 398927, female, 17.0 mm SL (not a DNA voucher), sta. CB08-19, inside and outside of Curlew Reef, Belize, 0-3 m, 21 May 2008, C. Baldwin and Z. Foltz.

Paratypes.

USNM 398928, BLZ 8062, female, 17.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-5, patch reef at south end of Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, 0-3 m, 16 May 2008 (posterior portion of body removed for DNA tissue sample). USNM 398929, BLZ 8131, female, 16.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-11, coral heads on sand bottom, Glover’s Reef, Belize, 0-3 m, 16°43'08.4"N, 87°53'13.1"W, 18 May 2008 (posterior portion of body removed for DNA tissue sample); USNM 398930, BLZ 8216, female, 11.5 mm SL, sta. CB08-20, south end of Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, 0-3 m, 21 May 2008 (posterior portion of body destroyed for DNA tissue sample); USNM 398931, BLZ 8266, male, 18.0 mm SL, sta. CB08-27, south end of Carrie Bow Cay, 0- m, 23 May 2008 (posterior portion of body removed for DNA tissue sample); USNM 349080, male, 18.0 mm SL (not a DNA voucher), reef crest in front of Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, 16 July 1991; USNM 399917, HON 050, male, 16.3mm SL, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, 3 Jul 2008.

Additional Material.

Belize: USNM 317476, 1 specimen (not a DNA voucher). Colombia (Cayos del Este): UF 223370, 5 (not DNA vouchers)-counts made from 1 male and 1 female, both 16.0 mm SL included in Table 3. Colombia (Isla Providencia): MZUSP 107860, 1 (not a DNA voucher). Panama (San Blas Islands): USNM 399918, PAN 018.

Diagnosis.

A species of Starksia distinguished by the following combination of characters: orbital cirrus present; two rows of prominent, very dark blotches on side of body, at least some of those in lower row vertically elongate to oval, rarely round; males with dark, fat, crescent-shaped marking on cheek and without dark blotch on anterior portion of spinous dorsal fin; females with scattered dark spots on lower half of head and on pectoral-fin base; first anal-fin spine in males two-thirds to three-quarters length of male genital papilla; belly naked.

Description.

See Table 3. Dorsal spines XIX–XX, rarely XX (XIX); segmented dorsal rays 7-8 (7); total dorsal elements bimodal at 26-27 (26); anal spines II; segmented anal rays 15-16, rarely 16 (15); dorsal segmented caudal-fin rays 7; ventral segmented caudal-fin rays 6; dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays 5-6 (5); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 5; segmented pelvic-fin rays 2; pectoral-fin rays 13; vertebrae 10+21=31,10+22=32, or 11+21=32 (10+21=31); infraorbital pore arrangement variable-unpaired (condition in holotype), one pair at 3 o’clock, or two pairs (3 and 4 o’clock); orbital, nape, and anterior-nostril cirri present; belly and pectoral-fin base completely naked.

Specimens examined ranging from 9.0-19.0 mm SL; HL 29-33% SL (29%); length of male genital papilla 19-22% SL; papilla adhered to first anal-fin spine and extending well beyond it, spine two-thirds to three-quarters length of papilla.

Pigment.

Head and body pale orange; posterior margins of most body scales covered with yellow or orange chromatophores mixed with melanophores, resulting in background pattern of chain-link or diamond-shaped markings. Two rows of dark markings on trunk: dorsal row with 9 roughly circular blotches that extend onto bases of dorsal-fin elements (another dark blotch on nape in line with this row of markings); ventral row with 6-7 blotches along middle of trunk, at least some vertically elongate to oval in shape; blotches generally not round, although one or more within row may be roughly so. Females with small dark spots on cheek, operculum, branchiostegals, lower jaw, gular, and pectoral-fin base; spots smaller than pupil (several would fit in pupil) but much larger than tiny dark dots that pepper most of head and trunk; males with dark, fat, crescent-shaped marking on cheek; orange chromatophores associated with head markings in both sexes. Both males and females lacking dark blotch of pigment on anterior portion of spinous-dorsal fin. Prominent orange markings present on bases of dorsal-fin elements above dark blotches along dorsal portion of trunk; where dark blotches extend onto bases of two dorsal-fin elements, orange markings distinctively paired; other orange pigment including chromatophores on top of head, around eye, on nasal cirrus, and on tips of pectoral-, dorsal-, caudal-, and anal-fin rays; those on pectoral fin bright orange.

Color in preservative.

Diagnostic dark blotches on trunk present as described above; diagnostic small dark spots on head in females and large blotch on cheek in males also distinctive in preserved specimens; body overall tan to dark tan. Males with uniform scattering of spots on lips and rest of head and pectoral-fin base; dorsal, caudal, anal, and pectoral rays dusky -- i.e., with pigment on membranes between fin rays. Females with dark spots on lips, chin, snout, circumorbitals, and pectoral-fin base; top of head and nape densely covered with melanophores; dorsal, caudal, anal, and pectoral rays edged in dark spots, but little or no pigment on membranes between fin rays. Dark blotches on dorsal portion of trunk extending onto dorsal-fin rays in both sexes; belly pale to lightly pigmented; pelvic fin clear.

Etymology.

Named in honor of Michael A. Lang, Director of the Smithsonian Marine Science Network (MSN) and Smithsonian Science Diving Program, in gratitude for the support MSN has provided for our Caribbean fish diversity studies and in recognition of the contributions Michael has made to science diving.

Distribution.

Known from Belize, “Colombia,” Honduras, and Panama (see “Remarks” below).

Remarks.

A tissue sample from a single specimen off Honduras (HON 050 on tree in Fig. 1) produced a COl sequence very similar to those of our Belize specimens, and one from Panama (PAN 018) is approximately 1% different. The Honduras specimen (Fig. 14A) has the diagnostic pigment on the cheek of male Starksia langi , and the Panama specimen (Fig. 14B) has the diagnostic small dark dots of female Starksia langi . We recognize the Honduras and Panama specimens as Starksia langi .

We lack tissue samples of Colombian specimens, but the five specimens in UF 223370 from Cayos del Este (San Andrés) and a 16-mm SL specimen from Isla Providencia (Fig. 14C) appear to have the vertically elongate pigment blotches on the trunk diagnostic of Starksia langi . Pigment is somewhat faded in the UF specimens, but the 16-mm SL female in the lot has dark spots on the head as in female Starksia langi . Although we include “Colombia” in the distribution list of this species above, we note that the Colombian specimens are from the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, a group of islands nearly 800 km from Colombia but only 220 km from Nicaragua. We have no material from continental Colombia, but Starksia sluiteri replaces Starksia langi off Venezuela.

Comparisons among Species of the Starksia sluiteri Complex (Fig. 15)

Comparative material. Starksia sluiteri . Curacao (all DNA vouchers): USNM 399623, CUR 8162; USNM 399624, CUR 8226; USNM 399625, CUR 8227; USNM 399626, CUR 8271. Los Roques, Venezuela (not DNA vouchers): USNM 195750, 2 specimens. Dominica (not DNA vouchers): USNM 198263, 15. Puerto Rico (not a DNA voucher): USNM 219143, 1. Antigua (not a DNA voucher): UF 11344, 1. Mexico (not DNA vouchers): UF 209342, 2. Starksia fasciata , Turks & Caicos Islands (all DNA vouchers): USNM 399681, TCI9204; USNM 399683, TCI 9349; USNM 399684, TCI 9350; USNM 399685, TCI 9714. Starksia sp. Navassa Island (not DNA vouchers): USNM 361059, 2.

Starksia langi is easily distinguished from Starksia greenfieldi and Starksia sluiteri based on pigmentation of the trunk, head (females), and first dorsal fin (males). The trunk pigment of Starksia langi comprises both larger and more prominent markings than that of Starksia greenfieldi and Starksia sluiteri , and only in Starksia langi are the markings in the second row vertically elongate (generally round in the other species and sometimes considerably more diffuse in Starksia greenfieldi ). Starksia greenfieldi lacks dark markings on the head in both sexes, and Starksia sluiteri lacks them in females; Starksia langi males have a prominent dark blotch on the cheek, and females have numerous small, discrete, dark spots. Males of Starksia langi lack a dark blotch on the anterior portion of the dorsal fin, whereas this blotch is present in Starksia greenfieldi and Starksia sluiteri .

Starksia greenfieldi can be distinguished from Starksia langi and Starksia sluiteri by the white (or pale), mostly round spots (absence of melanophores against a darker background) on at least portions of cheek, opercle, and gular region. This pattern is present in both sexes but is often much more prominent in males. Williams and Mounts (2003) noted that Starksia sella , another species of Starksia known only from Tobago, has small pale spots on the head, but that species lacks dark blotches along the trunk, lacks a dark blotch in the anterior dorsal fin of males, and may be larger (Williams and Mounts specimens of Starksia sella are 13.7-27.7 mm SL, our specimens of Starksia greenfieldi are 11.0-23.0 mm SL).

Starksia sluiteri (Metzelaar) is most easily distinguished from Starksia langi by having the second row of trunk blotches almost perfectly round (vs. vertically elongate), in lacking conspicuous dark spots on the head (females), and in having a dark marking on the anterior portion of the dorsal fin (males). From Starksia greenfieldi , Starksia sluiteri differs in lacking pale round spots on the head. Although Starksia sluiteri and Starksia langi have very similar chromatophore patterns, Starksia sluiteri appears to have more orange pigment on the second dorsal, caudal, and anal fins.

In their descriptions of Starksia leucovitta , Starksia melasma , Starksia multilepis , Starksia rava , and Starksia sella , Williams and Mounts (2003) noted that those species belong to the Starksia sluiteri complex. Large genetic distances separate the species of the Starksia sluiteri complex, and our Starksia multilepis samples from Brazil are nearly as similar genetically to Starksia sluiteri as Starksia langi is (Fig. 1). We have no tissue samples of the other proposed members of the Starksia sluiteri complex for comparative purposes. Those species are not very similar to Starksia sluiteri in trunk pigment, particularly in lacking any bold markings. Starksia fasciata from the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI 9204, TCI 9349, TCI 9350) is embedded within our Starksia sluiteri complex (Fig. 1), and Starksia fasciata is morphologically similar to species in that complex (Fig. 15). In Williams and Mounts (2003) diagnostic key, Starksia fasciata and Starksia sluiteri are in the same couplet, separated by pattern of pigment on the trunk (bars of trunk pigment in the former, rows of dark blotches in the latter). Male and female Starksia fasciata from the Turks and Caicos Islands (Fig. 15) are very similar to male and female Starksia langi from Belize in head pigmentation and in having prominent orange markings along the base of the dorsal fin. More material is needed to determine if Starksia smithvanizi , a species that Williams and Mounts (2003) considered part of the Starksia fasciata complex, also is genetically aligned with the Starksia sluiteri complex. We reiterate that our neighbor-joining tree (Fig. 1) is not intended to reflect phylogenetic relationships, and a species-level phylogeny derived from multiple genes should help resolve species and supra-specific relationships in the Starksia sluiteri complex.

Museum specimens examined from the Lesser Antilles (Dominica) and Puerto Rico appear to be Starksia sluiteri based on trunk pigment (round vs. elongate blotches in the second row of markings) and no conspicuous round pale spots on the cheek. The pigment is somewhat faded in those specimens, however, and more material, including tissue samples for genetic analysis, is needed. Two female specimens from Navassa (USNM 361059) are not Starksia sluiteri , as the markings in the second row of trunk blotches are elongate, not round.However, those markings are rectangular in the Navassa specimens, and the markings in the upper row are square-much more so than in our material of Starksia langi from the western Caribbean. The larger of the two females has some dark spots on the head as in Starksia langi . More material is needed. Other museum material examined (e.g., the UF specimens from Antigua and Mexico) are too faded to identify to species.

Key to Species of the Starksia sluiteri Complex