Pristotis, Rüppell, 1838

Tang, Kevin L., Stiassny, Melanie L. J., Mayden, Richard L. & DeSalle, Robert, 2021, Systematics of Damselfishes, Ichthyology & Herpetology 109 (1), pp. 258-318 : 298

Pristotis and Teixeirichthys .

—Both genera contain elongate zooplanktivores (Allen, 1975a; Allen and Randall, 1981). Pristotis includes two recognized species ( P. cyanostigma and P. obtusirostris ) and Teixeirichthys is monotypic ( T. jordani ). They prefer sandy bottoms and seagrass meadows (Allen, 1975a; Allen and Randall, 1981; Allen, 1991; Randall et al., 1997; Khalaf et al., 2006), much like the species of Amblypomacentrus sensu lato. Earlier authors have noted that these two genera, or species now classified in these genera, are closely related (e.g., Rutter, 1897; Smith, 1960; Tyler, 1966; Allen, 1975a: 38; Kawashima and Moyer, 1982). In the description of Pomacentrus jordani [¼ T. jordani ], Rutter (1897) stated that it was most closely related to Pomacentrus jerdoni [¼ Pristotis obtusirostris ]. Smith (1960: 321) treated T. mossambicus [¼ T. jordani ] as a junior synonym of T. obtusirostris [¼ Pristotis obtusirostris ]. Tyler (1966) treated obtusirostris as a species of Teixeirichthys . Species of both genera are unique among pomacentrids in possessing a single supraneural (formerly predorsal; Mabee, 1988), versus two or more in the rest of the family (Emery, 1980: 235; Emery and Allen, 1980). Kawashima and Moyer (1982) stated that Pristotis and Teixeirichthys ‘‘are very similar in external and internal characters,’’ differing mainly in squamation. They observed that the species of both genera share a midwater habitat preference atypical of most other pomacentrids, in that they are captured in trawls ( Montalban, 1928; Yamakawa, 1966). Both genera lack the ceratomandibular ligament, whereas all other pomacentrines with available data were reported to possess the ligament ( Frédérich et al., 2014). DiBattista et al. (2016) was the first study to examine all three species and found Teixeirichthys sister to a monophyletic Pristotis . Recent phylogenetic analyses have consistently recorded Pristotis and Teixeirichthys as sister taxa (Cooper et al., 2009; Cowman and Bellwood, 2011; Litsios et al., 2012a, 2012b; Frédérich et al., 2013; Rabosky et al., 2013, 2018; Lobato et al., 2014; DiBattista et al., 2016; Mirande, 2016; Delrieu-Trottin et al., 2019). Our phylogeny agrees and shows strong support (100% bootstrap) for the two genera forming a clade, which is the sister taxon of Neopomacentrus .