Serranus (Paracentropristis) accraensis ( Norman, 1931 )

Iwamoto, Tomio & Wirtz, Peter, 2018, A Synopsis of the Eastern and Central Atlantic Combers of the Genus Serranus (Teleostei: Scorpaeniformes: Serranidae), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65 (1), pp. 1-39 : 4-5

Serranus (Paracentropristis) accraensis ( Norman, 1931)

Figure 1

Neanthias accraensis Norman, 1931 (holotype BMNH 1930.8.26.28; Accra, Ghana). Fowler 1936:1292– 1293, fig. 550; 1357 (compiled). Poll 1954:78–81, fig. 23 ( Gabon to Angola; 50-75 m).

Novanthias accraensis : Whitley 1937:122 (replacement name for genus Neanthias , preoccupied by Neanthias Rye, 1881 ).

Serranus sanctae-helenae (non Boulenger 1895): Poll 1948:225.

Serranus accraensis : Robins and Starck 1961:259. Smith 1981:703-704. Heemstra and Anderson 2016:2406.

DIAGNOSIS.— D X,12; A III,7; P 16–17; V III,7; gill rakers 6-8+13–15 (20–23 total); pored lateral-line scales 43–48; circumpeduncular scales 22–23. Upper lobe of caudal fin ending in a short filamentous streamer produced beyond tip of lower lobe. Rim of tube-like anterior nostril elevated to a flap posteriorly and fringed at tip. Two diagonal bluish stripes on side of head, one behind eye, the other below eye running from snout to margin of opercle. A faint broad stripe below lateral line, usually broken into a series of 4–7 bands or blotches, the bands (often indistinct) extending from dorsal profile to a mid-lateral position; the band or blotch below the 7 th and 8 th dorsal spines usually darkest, although that on caudal peduncle forming a dark blotch in some specimens.

DESCRIPTION.— Body compressed and moderately slender; greatest depth under origin of dorsal fin about one-third SL; head length 35–37% of SL. Snout rather short, its length subequal to orbit diameter; dorsal profile of snout with mouth tightly closed attaining a slope of approximately 45 degrees from the horizontal; the profile leveling off over orbits and rising slightly over body; the ventral profile of body forming a gentle uniform curve from lower jaw to base of caudal fin. Jaws equal, the upper jaw extending almost to vertical through midorbit. Anterior nostril a short tube, the posterior rim with 4–6 slender fingerlike cirri. Three short flat spines on opercle, the uppermost scarcely visible below the overriding scale, the second best developed, the third small and inconspicuous. Preopercle margin armed with small serrations along entire free margin in adults, but reduced or absent ventrally in young; spines at angle usually slightly enlarged.

Premaxillary teeth with two short canines in a cluster of teeth near tip of jaw, followed by smaller conical teeth posteriorly, and flanked medially by a narrow inner band of small teeth. Dentary teeth composed of 4–6 short recurved and spaced canines interspersed with much smaller teeth in one row. Vomer with cluster of small teeth in broadly V-shaped patch. Palatine teeth all small, in an elongated lens-shaped band.

Body scales large, ctenoid, covering most of body; scales absent on top of head, snout, suborbital region, jaws, gular and branchiostegal membranes, interopercle bone, and in larger specimens, broad outer margin of preopercle, a narrow area behind orbit, and lower margin of subopercle. No scales on dorsal and anal fins, but small scales present at bases of pectoral, pelvic, and caudal fins.

First 4–6 spines of dorsal fin graduated, the spines following subequal; the segmented rays slightly higher, forming a slight notch in profile of dorsal fin. Anal-fin spines graduated, the first less than half length of second and third spines; segmented rays longer than spines, the last three or four segmented rays longest. Pectoral fin broad-based, its origin slightly behind that of pelvic fin and about on same vertical as origin of dorsal fin, its distal tip extending close to or over origin of anal fin. Tip of second pelvic-fin ray developed into a short filamentous streamer. Caudal fin lunate, upper caudal lobe with a short filamentous streamer and longer than lower lobe.

Color in fresh specimens: ( Fig. 1 ) Ground color light gold to bronze, overlain dorsally with brownish hue and darker scale outlines; silvery to white below, ivory-white on gular and branchiostegal membranes, chest (including cleithrum and pectoral-fin base), and belly to origin of anal fin. Five to seven indistinct broad olive-green bands descend from dorsum to midlateral line where they become darker and form blotches, the blotch below dorsal spines VI to VIII usually darkest and largest, those more posterior smaller and fainter, although that on caudal peduncle often forming prominent dark blotch. Two characteristic blue stripes on side of head, the upper running at a shallow diagonal from the posteroventral corner of orbit to margin of gill cover between second and third opercular spines, the lower stripe beginning at snout and running below orbit to margin of gill cover. Dorsal fin olive-brown overall, with a clear basal stripe on spinous portion rising posteriorly above a narrow dark base; distally, small clear spots dot darker ground, with a faint orange margin on soft-dorsal portion of fin. Pectoral and pelvic fins faintly yellow; anal fin with golden-yellow stripe midlaterally, clear otherwise; caudal fin olive-brown, darker on ventral lobe; small clear spots along interradial membranes. In preserved specimens: the bluish stripes on head are dark and the midlateral blotches are more prominent; also, three narrow stripes on body become visible: one running along lateral line, ending near where lateral line descends; a second stripe running midlaterally from behind lower margin of fleshy opercular lobe to caudal peduncle; the third running from behind belly at mid-level of pectoral fin and ending above end of anal fin.

Size: To about 20 cm TL.

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION.— Muddy and sandy bottoms from 25–150 m. Senegal to Angola, São Tomé Island (first record, based on CAS 231616 ) .

REMARKS.— This is a relatively common species in tropical West Africa at depths of approximately 40 to 80 m. Poll (1954: 78-79) recorded 180 specimens collected at 10 localities between the equator off Gabon and the Congo River in northern Angola . The first author encountered the species infrequently during R / V Nansen surveys off Senegal, Ghana, São Tomé e Príncipe , and Angola.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED (9 spec.; 8 from R / V Dr Fridtjof Nansen [ DFN] surveys collected by the first author).— Senegal : CAS 234557 (1 spec., 88.6 mm SL); 15°19.1ʹN, 16°55.5ʹW; 53– 50 m ; DFN Survey 2012-04-04, sta.98; 28 May 2012 . CAS 234896 (1, 129 mm SL); 14°29.09ʹN, 17°20.2ʹW; 58– 57 m ; DFN Survey 2012-04-04, sta.89; 27 May 2012. Ghana : CAS 231637 (2, 89.5–93. 6 mm SL); 5°37.06ʹN, 0°34.47ʹE, 45–46 m ; DFN Survey 2010-04-04, sta 5; 1 May 2010. São Tomé e Príncipe : CAS 231616 (1 spec., 101 mm SL); off São Tomé Island, 0°8.46ʹN, 6°41.42ʹE, 54-61 m ; DFN Survey 2010-04-05, sta. 26, 16 May 2010. Cameroon : CAS-SU 55584 (1, 118.5 mm SL); Kribi ; 2.938408°N, 9.908068°E; collector A.I. Good, 12 Apr. 1940. Angola : CAS 222858 (1, 88.5 mm SL); 12°17ʹS, 13°34ʹE; 53–57 m ; DFN sta. 43611, 2 Apr. 2005 . CAS 234758 (1, 133.5 mm SL); 12°00.06ʹS, 13°37.06ʹE; 73 m ; DFN sta. 40, 4 Mar. 2007 . CAS 224982 (1, 67.6 mm SL); 10°54.91’S, 13°43.7ʹE; 54–55 m ; DFN sta. 61, 6 Mar. 2007 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Serranus accraensis. A fresh 14 cm TL specimen from West Africa, taken by the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 47 m. Photograph by Oddgeir Alvheim.