Rhabdosargus haffara ( Forsskål, 1775 ), Forsskal, 1775

Siddiqui, Pirzada Jamal, Amir, Shabir Ali & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2014, The sparid fishes of Pakistan, with new distribution records, Zootaxa 3857 (1), pp. 71-100 : 88-89

Rhabdosargus haffara ( Forsskål, 1775)

Common name: Haffara seabream

Local names: Kabardan, Dandya (Sindh); Chah (Balochistan) ( Figures 12 & 15 T, U; Table 1 )

Sparus haffara, Forsskål 1775:33 , xi (No locality stated [Red Sea]).

Diagnosis. Distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: Dorsal-fin rays XI,13; anal-fin rays III,11; scale rows between fifth dorsal-fin spine base and the lateral line 5½, scale rows below the lateral line 11½ –12½, scale rows between the dorsal-fin spine base and lateral line 5½–7½; pored lateral line scales 55–60; small blackish mark on first few lateral line scales, no scales on preopercular flange; gill rakers 13–16, on the lower limb 8–9; body depth 2.3–2.5 of SL; head and body silvery-black; pelvic, anal and caudal fins dusky gray to blackish, no yellow or golden longitudinal lines on the body.

Description. Body fairly elongate, its depth 40.4–42.9% of SL; head large, 31.4–34.4% of SL; anterior profile of head somewhat convex, gracefully arched between dorsal-fin origin and snout tip, relatively sharp up to mouth; eye region slightly gibbous; posterior tip of maxilla reaching beyond vertical at middle of eye; upper jaw length 13.9–16.0 of SL, lower jaw slightly short and included; six incisors form teeth at front of upper and lower jaws; molars in five rows on each side of upper jaw, and three rows on each side of lower jaw, molars on each side of both jaws bluntly rounded, increasing in size gradually from front to back in each jaw, the posteriormost molar of each jaw significantly enlarged; gill rakers short; 4–5 transverse rows of scales on preopercle, 6–7 on cheek; interorbital entirely naked; dorsal spines strong, first spine shortest (4.5–6.1% of SL), 4th and 5th spine usually longest (11.5–16.3% of SL); first dorsal-fin soft ray longest but shorter than longest spine; first anal-fin spine (3.5–4.1% of SL) much shorter than orbit diameter; 2nd and 3rd anal-fin spine subequal (10.6–12.0% of SL); dorsal and anal-fins with scaly sheath along their base; pectoral-fin tip reaching or little beyond to first anal-fin spine base vertically, and the length of pectoral-fin (38.2–40.8% of SL) clearly longer than head; pelvic-fin spine longer than snout; caudal fin weakly forked.

Color of fresh specimens. The whole body silvery light blakish with some faint longitudinal dusky streaks on the sides; operculum silvery; chin and belly silvery-white; lips whitish-gray; dorsal-fin spines gray to blackish, soft rays hyaline, fin membranes hyaline with dusky gray-olivaceous patches; pectoral and pelvic and anal fins dusky gray; caudal fin dusky to blackish with darker posterior margins; a black blotch at origin of lateral line and axil of pectoral-fin.

Distribution. Red Sea, Western Indian Ocean; Mediterranean Sea; Northwest Arabian Sea

Remarks. Rhabdosargus haffara is similar in appearance to the newly described R. niger (Tanaka & Iwatsuki, 2013) from southwestern Kalimantan, Indonesia. However, Rhabdosargus niger , probably endemic only in western Pacific (according to Y. Iwatsuki) has more dense black body, higher body depth and lower counts of pored lateral line scales (ca. 45% of SL and 53–55 in R. niger vs. slender body, ca. 42% of SL, and higher scale counts, 55–60 pored lateral line scales in R. haffara ), being distinguishable between them. Rhabdosargus haffara is very common from Middle East ( Bauchot & Smith, 1983).

Rhabdosargus haffara differs from R. sarba in having lower counts of 5½ scale rows between the fifth dorsalfin spine base and lateral line (vs. 6½–7½ in R. sarba , Table 1 ). R. haffara has silvery-black body without golden longitudinal lines and dusky gray coloration of pelvic and anal fins, while R. sarba possesses a silvery gold sheen body with yellow or golden longitudinal lines as well as yellow or yellowish coloration of pelvic and anal fins. Hoda (1988) mentioned R. haffara from Pakistan in his checklist but confirmation was lacking in the form of specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Rhabdosargus haffara, PMNH 53010, 283 mm SL, WWFH, Karachi. Silvery with blackish appearance and no longitudinal golden-lines on body.

FIGURE 15. Details of dentition (A-Y) and gill rakers (Z & Z 1) in species of family Sparidae from Pakistan; Acanthopagrus catenula, A) upper jaw & B) lower jaw; A. berda, C) upper jaw & D) lower jaw; A. arabicus, E) upper jaw & F) lower jaw; A. sheim, G) upper jaw & H) lower jaw; Sparidentex hasta, I) upper jaw & J) lower jaw; Sparidentex jamalensis., K) upper jaw & L) lower jaw; Crenidens indicus, M) upper jaw & N) lower jaw; Diplodus capensis, O) upper jaw & P) lower jaw; Q) upper and lower jaws of Diplodus omanensis; Rhabdosargus sarba, R) upper jaw & S) lower jaw; Rhabdosargus haffara, T) upper jaw & U) lower jaw; V) upper and lower jaws of Agryrops spinifer; W) upper and lower jaws of Cheimerius nufar; Pagellus affinis, X) upper jaw & Y) lower jaw; Z) Argyrops spinifer, showing comparatively small gill rakers; and Z 1) Cheimerius nufar, showing elongated fan-like gill rakers.