Enneapterygius ventermaculus Holleman, 1982

Holleman, Wouter & Bogorodsky, Sergey V., 2012, A review of the blennioid fish family Tripterygiidae (Perciformes) in the Red Sea, with description of Enneapterygius qirmiz, and reinstatement of Enneapterygius altipinnis Clark, 1980, Zootaxa 3152, pp. 36-60 : 53

Enneapterygius ventermaculus Holleman, 1982

Figs. 2 I, 8E; table 1

Enneapterygius ventermaculus Holleman, 1982: 123 , fig. 7 (northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa); Randall, 1995: 32, fig. 5 (Gulf of Oman); Holleman, 2005: 21, Fig. 19, Pl. 2; Golani & Bogorodsky 2010: 44.

Enneapterygius nasimae: Hoda, 1983: 116 ff, figs. 1–3 (Karachi coast, Pakistan).

Diagnosis. Dorsal fins III + XI–XIII + 8–10 (usually III + XII + 10); anal fin I,17–20 (usually 19); pectoral fin 14: 1–3, 4–6, 6–8 (usually 2, 5, 7). LL 13–16 (usually 15) pored and 21–25 (usually 23) notched scales, notched series starting second scale row below end of pored series; dentary pores 3 + 1 + 3 ( Fig. 2 I). Head 3.4–4.0 in SL. Nape, base of first dorsal fin and belly naked. Orbital cirrus moderate and lobate; supratemporal sensory canal ‘U’- shaped, embracing first dorsal fin spine. First dorsal fin slightly higher than second in males, slightly lower in females.

Fresh colour. Males body olive green with darker scale margins, with 3 or 4 blotches of white spots along midside, interspersed with smaller dark olive green marks, sometimes extending to anal-fin base, dark triangular mark on peduncle at caudal-fin base, apex forward with two white streaks, one above the other, at base of fin, belly white with black pre-anal spot, often a triangle, apex anterior; head dark olive green, with white spots, colour to pectoralfin base; first dorsal finely speckled with brown and orange, first spine banded, except on membrane between spine 3 and dorsum; second dorsal fin with hyaline band in centre and with melanophores and white on margin and at base of spines; third dorsal fin similarly marked with white and black, but on rays only; caudal fin largely hyaline but with dark and light banding along upper and lower rays in deeply pigmented males; anal fin alternately banded black, white and hyaline, with 6–8 black subcutaneous basal spots; pelvic fins cream with lower rays ‘banded’ with black on rays only; pelvic-fin base black, rays cream.

Colour underwater. Body translucent pale bottle-green with scale margins orange-brown, subcutaneous analfin spots red-brown, white lines on peduncle very bright, as are alternating dark and white dashed lines along length of vertebral column; head with alternating dark and white marks radiating out from eye, iris orange-brown and green; first dorsal fin with white and banding on spine 1, second and third dorsal fins with ‘rows’ of black and white marks; pectoral fins with ‘bands’ of white on rays.

Key features. Males with blackish head and yellow first dorsal fin, yellow on lower pectoral-fin rays and proximal portion of the pelvic-fin rays; both males and females olive green with black and white barred anal fins.

Distribution. This species is known from the Red Sea, Aden, Oman, Pakistan and the east and southeast coast of South Africa, from the Transkei to southern Mozambique. The record from the Red Sea is based on SMNS 21497 from the Kamaran Islands, Yemen (R. Fricke pers. comm.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dentary pore patterns of Red Sea species of Enneapterygius: (A) E. abeli; (B) E. altipinnis; (C) E. clarkae; (D) E. destai; (E) E. obscurus; (F) E. pallidus (diagrammatic - J. T. Williams); (G) E. pusillus; (H) E. qirmiz; (I) E. ventermaculus.