Rhabdosargus sarba ( 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 : 87-88

Rhabdosargus sarba ( Forsskål, 1775)

Common name: Gold-lined Seabream

Local names: Kabardan, Dandya (Sindh); Chah (Balochistan) ( Figures 11 & 15 R, S; Table 1 )

Chrysophrys aries Temminck & Schlegel, 1843: 67 , Pl. 31 (Nagasaki, Japan); Boeseman, 1947:72. Sargus auriventris Peters, 1855: 435 ( Mozambique).

Sparus bufonites Lacepède, 1802: 47 , 141, Pl. 2 (fig. 3) (Indo-Pacific).

Chrysophris chrysargyra Cuvier, 1829: 182 ( India) .

Chrysophrys chrysargyra: Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1830:107.

Sparus maurosparus Walbaum, 1792: 301 (Red Sea).

Chrysophrys natalensis Castelnau, 1861: 25 (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa).

Sparus psittacus Lacepède, 1802: 47 , 141 (Indian seas); Bauchot & Daget, 1972: 62). Sparus sarba Forsskål, 1775: 31 , xi, (Jeddah, Red Sea); Nielsen, 1974: 67; Klausewitz & Nielsen 1965: 16. Roughleyia tarwhine Whitley 1931: 319 (Batchelor, Macleay River, New South Wales, Australia); Stead 1908: 78, Pl. 47.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from all congeners of Rhabdosargus by the following combination of characters: dorsalfin rays XI, 13; anal-fin rays III, 11; scale rows above and below lateral line 6½–7½ and 11½–12½; scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine base and lateral line 6½–7½; pored lateral line scales 57–59; no scales on preopercular flange; gill rakers 13–16, on the lower limb 8; head and body silvery–black; body with yellow or golden longitudinal lines, as well as yellow or yellowish coloration of pelvic and anal-fins.

Description. Body deep, its depth 40.7–44.3% of SL; head large, 30.0–34.3% of SL; anterior profile of head somewhat convex, arched evenly between snout tip and dorsal-fin origin; posterior tip of maxilla reaching beyond vertical at middle of eye; eye moderate in size, orbit diameter 7–10% of SL; mouth slightly oblique, lips thick; upper jaw length 13.2–15.4% of SL; lower jaw slightly short and included; six incisiform teeth at front of upper and lower jaws; molars in 5–6 regular series on each side of upper jaw, and in three irregular series on each side of lower jaw, increasing in size gradually from front to back in each jaw, the posteriormost molar of each jaw on each side greatly enlarged; gill rakers short; 4–5 transverse rows of scales on preopercle, six to seven on cheek; interorbital entirely naked; dorsal spines strong, first spine shortest (4.2–5.9), 4th and 5th spine usually longest; first dorsal-fin soft ray longest but shorter than longest spine; first anal-fin spine much shorter than orbit diameter; 2nd and 3rd anal-fin spine subequal; 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 clearly longer than head; pelvic-fin spine longer than snout; caudal fin weakly forked.

Color of fresh specimens. Head and body silvery-yellowish black; body with yellow or golden longitudinal lines; eye yellow with dark area; operculum silvery; yellow or yellowish coloration of pectoral, pelvic and analfins; edges of dorsal and caudal fins are grayish, sometimes golden shade on caudal fin just after the caudal peduncle; pectoral-fins hyaline with light yellowish shade; chin and belly silvery-white.

Distribution. Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, South Africa, Mozambique Channel, Seychelles, Madagascar and Mascarenes, east to Philippines, north to southern Japan, south to northern Australia. This species has been reported from Pakistan ( Bianchi, 1985; Hoda, 1988; Jalil & Khalil-Uddin, 1981) and can presumably be found in a wider range in Oman, Iran, India and Bangladesh.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Rhabdosargus sarba, MUFS 39628, 167.3 mm SL, Ibrahim Heydri, near Korangi Creek, Karachi. Silvery with prominent longitudinal golden-lines.

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.