Symphysanodon andersoni Kotthaus, 1974

William D. Anderson, Jr. & Victor G. Springer, 2005, Review of the perciform fish genus Symphysanodon Bleeker (Symphysanodontidae), with descriptions of three new species, S. mona, S. parini, and S. rhax., Zootaxa 996, pp. 1-44 : 31

Symphysanodon andersoni Kotthaus, 1974 .

This species was described from a single specimen (ZMH 5170, 157 mm SL), collected in the western Indian Ocean southwest of Socotra Island near the entrance to the Gulf of Aden in a depth of 290-190 m (Kotthaus, 1974), and has been reported from the Gulf of Kutch, an inlet in the northeastern quadrant of the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India (Manilo and Bogorodsky, 2003) (see Figure 9). Three small specimens (USNM 326398, 40-47 mm SL) of Symphysanodon , collected by prawn trawl in 78 m off Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, may be representatives of S. andersoni (see Figure 9). Unfortunately, none of the small specimens is in good enough condition to accurately determine the most critical character (number of lateral-line scales) needed for identification as that species. Nevertheless, the presence of parapophyses on the first caudal vertebra in the holotype of S. andersoni and in the three small individuals suggests that the four specimens are conspecific (see below).