Synchiropus sycorax, Tea, Yi-Kai & Gill, Anthony C., 2016

Tea, Yi-Kai & Gill, Anthony C., 2016, Synchiropus sycorax, a new species of dragonet from the Philippines (Teleostei: Callionymidae), Zootaxa 4173 (1), pp. 85-93 : 86-91

Synchiropus sycorax n. sp.

Ruby Dragonet

Figures 1–5

Holotype. AMS I.47200-001, 39.4 mm SL male, Philippines, Sulu Archipelago, Jolo Island , B. Pagkaliwagan, 29 November 2015.

Paratypes. AMS I.47200-002, 26.7 mm SL female; CAS 241566, 34.8 mm SL male; USNM 438956, 35.5 mm SL male; ZRC 54776, 22.6 mm SL female, 40.1 mm SL male (all collected with the holotype).

Diagnosis. Synchiropus sycorax differs from congeners in the following live coloration details: head and body bright red, bright yellow ventrally, with prominent white spots on head (one spot or blotch over preopercular spine, two elongate spots behind middle of eye, and one spot behind upper part of eye at about 1 o’clock position) and body (in three rows, an uppermost row beginning below soft dorsal, tracking lateral line to caudal peduncle, a lowermost row extending from above anterior anal fin to caudal peduncle, and a middle row extending obliquely from above pectoral fin to anterior part of lowermost series of spots); males with pelvic fin and pelvic-pectoral membrane bright yellow with broad bluish or greenish grey to black submarginal band across distal third of fin.

Description. Dorsal-fin rays IV + 8, all segmented rays branched; anal-fin rays 7 (6 f1; 7 f4), final ray branched; pectoral fin rays 20/20 (19 f1; 20 f5; 21 f4), the upper 2/2 (1–3) and lower 1/1 (0–2) rays branched; membrane from pelvic fin connected to pectoral base opposite 3rd/5th (4th to 7th) basal-most pectoral ray; pelvic-fin rays I,5; upper unsegmented caudal-fin rays 3; upper unbranched, segmented caudal-fin rays 1; upper branched caudal-fin rays 4; lower branched caudal-fin rays 3; lower unbranched segmented caudal-fin rays 2; lower unsegmented caudal-fin rays 2; total caudal-fin rays 15. Preopercular spine with two dorsally directed serrations, a terminal tip, and no antrorse processes or serrations ventrally ( Figure 4 ).

Morphometric values are summarized in Table 1 .

Holotype Paratypes Cephalic lateral-line system ( Figure 4 ): infraorbital canal short, reaching only posteroventral edge of eye; postocular canal not connecting with preoperculomandibular canal; preoperculomandibular canal disjunct, consisting of four short sections, the dorsal-most spanning the preopercular spine base, and the lowermost just behind and below the corner of the mouth (terminal pore between preopercle and retroarticular); remainder of cephalic lateral-line system typical of Neosynchiropus sensu Nakabo (see Nakabo 1982: fig. 24B). Lateral line on body single, extending along dorsal part of body to about basal one quarter to one third of caudal fin, running along dorsal edge of lowermost ray on upper part of fused hypural complex; no dorsal commissure connecting lateral lines on caudal peduncle.

Colour in life. Males ( Figures 1–2 ) head and body bright red, bright yellow ventrally; head with large prominent white markings, including a spot or blotch over preopercular spine, two elongate spots behind middle of eye, and one spot behind upper part of eye (at about 1 o’clock position); additional small white spots may be present, scattered over the head; dorsal edge of snout and lips often white; small black spots present behind lower part of eye (at about 4 o’clock position), sometimes merging into oblique bar; small blue spots often on lower part of head within yellow area; eyes bright red, usually with small white spots; prominent large white spot on dorsal part of body, just behind termination of first dorsal fin; body with three rows of enlarged white spots, an uppermost row beginning below soft dorsal, tracking lateral line to caudal peduncle, a lowermost row extending from above anterior anal fin to caudal peduncle, and a middle row extending obliquely from above pectoral fin to anterior part of lowermost series of spots; small black spot on upper part of caudal peduncle just in front of caudal-fin base; remainder of body with additional rows of smaller white spots, and often smaller scattered black spots; first dorsal yellow to yellow-brown with 5–9 black, curving stripes (increasing in number with size of specimen), the lowermost 1–4 broken into spots, and uppermost often restricted to last interradial membrane; stripes edged narrowly with pale blue, followed by black; second dorsal fin with red rays, fin membranes red, becoming reddish grey to black posteriorly, crossed by 2–3 yellow stripes; yellow stripes edged narrowly with black, followed by blue; anal fin bluish grey, often with stippled with fine black spots, and sometimes with yellow basally with dark grey spots, the distal tips of rays sometimes striped red and white; caudal fin rays red, finely striped with white or blue; caudal-fin membranes hyaline, often with blue spots; 1–2 prominent black spots on upper 1–2 rays on lower lobe of caudal fin; pelvic fin and pelvic-pectoral membrane bright yellow with broad bluish or greenish grey to black submarginal band across distal third of fin; basal two thirds of fin and pelvic-pectoral membrane with variously developed reddish grey to black spots, and small blue to white spots; pectoral fin base with large yellowbrown to black spot, edged posteriorly and sometimes dorsally with white to pale blue; pectoral fins yellowish hyaline with closely spaced red bars, breaking into spots proximally. Females ( Figure 3 ) similar to males, except: first spine of first dorsal fin red, the remainder of fin black with pale blue to white distal margin; second dorsal fin hyaline with red rays, red stripes through middle and distal part of fin, reddish grey to black on base of fin, and scattered white spots; anal fin with yellow rays, yellowish hyaline to hyaline membranes, and scattered white to pale blue spots; pelvic fins without broad submarginal grey to black band.

Colour in alcohol. Similar to live coloration; dark grey to black markings and white markings remain; red markings become pale reddish brown; yellow markings become pale tan.

Distribution and habitat. Synchiropus sycorax is currently known only from Jolo Island, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines ( Figure 5 ). According to B. Shutman (pers. comm.) it occurs at depths of 20–38m in areas of broken coral rubble interspersed with outcrops of soft and stony corals.

Etymology. The species is named after the red-robed and caped Sycorax warriors from the BBC sci-fi series Dr. Who, in showing similarities in both coloration and grandiloquence of their garb. The epithet sycorax is a noun in apposition.

Comparisons. The new species agrees with Fricke’s (2016) definition of Synchiropus (Acommissura) in finray counts, branched second dorsal-fin rays, unbranched anal-fin rays, preopercular spine shape and in lacking a lateral-line commissure on the dorsal surface of the caudal peduncle. Aside from minor details (such as the degree of development of the caudal-fin lateral line), S. sycorax differs from Nakabo’s account for Neosynchiropus in having the preopercular part of the laterosensory system fragmented into four short portions (cf. Figure 4 with Nakabo 1982: fig. 24B).

Synchiropus sycorax appears to be closely related to S. tudorjonesi Allen and Erdmann (2012a; Figures 6–7) — which it resembles in general coloration — and keys to that species using Fricke’s (2016) key to species of the subgenera Neosychiropus and Accommisura. Allen and Erdmann’s original description of S. tudorjonesi is erroneous in recording eight spines in the first dorsal fin and all unbranched rays in the second dorsal fin. The first dorsal spine count was corrected (without comment) to four by Allen and Erdmann (2012b), but no mention was made of branching in the second dorsal fin. However, it is apparent from their photographs of the type specimens that all second dorsal-fin rays are branched. The two species may be distinguished by details of their colour pattern. In particular, S. tudorjonesi : lacks the prominent white markings on the head; has less conspicuous white markings on the body; has a less intense red coloration; is at most dusky yellow on the lower head (versus bright yellow); has a prominent dark grey to black stripe or series of large blotches laterally on the body; and has distinct banding on the caudal-fin membranes. Males of S. tudorjonesi differ further in pelvic-fin coloration, particularly in lacking the broad, dark submarginal band.

Synchiropus sycorax and S. tudorjonesi probably differ in the construction of the first dorsal fin of males, though further samples are needed for more detailed comparison. In S. sycorax the first dorsal-fin spine is longest, measuring 45.9–53.2 % SL in the four available males (34.8–40.1 mm SL). By contrast, the third spine is longest in S. tudorjonesi , 23.9 % SL in the 35.5 mm SL male holotype and about 35 % SL in the approximately 50 mm SL male in Figure 6 .

The two species overlap in the Philippines, but S. tudorjonesi is more widely distributed ( Figure 5 ). Allen and Erdmann (2012a) described S. tudorjonesi from Cenderwasih Bay, West Papua Province, Indonesia, but noted that it had been photographed in Bali, Indonesia and recorded as “ Synchiropus cf. morrisoni ”, by Kuiter & Tonozuka (2001). G.R. Allen (pers. comm.) has also collected the species in Misool and Timor Leste. We confirm the Bali record on the basis of aquarium specimens ( Figures 6 , 7 ) and an additional photograph in the Database of Fishes in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History (KPM-NR 66457). Additional photographic records extend its range northward to Green Island, Taiwan (B. Greene, pers. comm.), the Ryukyu Islands and southern Japan (Okinawa - KPM-NR 76022; Sukomo Bay - KPM-NR 96608, KPM-NR 92462, KPM-NR 95820), and westward to the Maldives ( Randall 1997).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Synchiropus sycorax, new species, male holotype when freshly dead, AMS I. 47200 - 001, 39.4 mm SL, Jolo Island, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines (Y. K. Tea).

FIGURE 2. Synchiropus sycorax, male paratype in an aquarium, ZRC 54776, 40.1 mm SL, Jolo Island, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines (Y. K. Tea).

FIGURE 3. Synchiropus sycorax, female, aquarium specimen from Jolo Island, Philippines. Specimen not retained; approximately 20 mm SL (Y. K. Tea).

FIGURE 4. Synchiropus sycorax, holotype, AMS I. 47200 - 001, 39.4 mm SL; diagram showing cephalic sensory pores. Abbreviations: IO, infraorbital canal; LL, lateral line canal; POC, postocular canal; POM, preoperculo-mandibular canals; PRO, preorbital canal; SO, supraorbital canal; ST, supratemporal canal. Dashed lines indicate positions of unpaired, median supraorbital pores.

FIGURE 5. Distribution map showing locality records for Synchiropus tudorjonesi (open circles) and S. sycorax plus S. tudorjonesi (filled circle).

FIGURE 6. Synchiropus tudorjonesi, male aquarium specimen, collected from Bali, Indonesia. Specimen not retained; approximately 50 mm SL (Y. K. Tea).

FIGURE 7. Synchiropus tudorjonesi, female aquarium specimen, collected from Bali, Indonesia. Specimen not retained; approximately 35 mm SL (Y. K. Tea).

Tables

TABLE 1. Morphometric values for Synchiropus sycorax new species, expressed as percentages of SL.

	AMS I.47200-001 ZRC 54776	AMS CAS I.47200-002 241566	USNM 438956	ZRC 54776
Sex SL Head length	male female 39.4 22.6 29.2 33.2	female male 26.7 34.8 28.5 28.4	male 35.5 28.5	male 40.1 29.0
Snout Eye diameter Body width	6.3 5.8 9.9 12.4 22.6 21.7	6.4 5.7 12.0 10.3 25.8 24.4	5.9 10.1 23.7	7.2 9.7 23.0
Interorbital width Body depth Predorsal 1	2.0 2.2 21.8 19.0 34.0 36.3	2.6 2.0 18.4 21.6 37.1 33.9	2.3 18.0 31.5	2.5 19.5 30.4
Predorsal 2 Prepelvic Preanal	47.2 53.5 23.1 26.5 51.0 62.3	54.7 49.1 30.0 24.4 62.2 55.5	49.0 25.9 58.9	47.6 25.2 51.9