Eviota karaspila, Greenfield & Randall, 2010

Greenfield, David W. & Randall, John E., 2010, Eviota karaspila, a new gobiid fish from Fiji (Teleostei: Gobiidae), Zootaxa 2672 (1), pp. 61-68 : 62-66

Eviota karaspila sp. nov.

Eastern Headspot Pygmygoby

( Figs. 1 , 2 and 6 )

Eviota smaragdus (non Jordan and Seale). Allen et al., 2003:318.

Eviota melasma (non Lachner and Karnella). Randall, 2005: 532.

Holotype. CAS 229856 , 17.9 mm, male, Fiji, Viti Levu , Nananu-i-Ra, 17º16.704’S, 178º12.932’E, 3–6 m, fringing reef, rotenone, field number G02-186, D.W. Greenfield, K. Cole, R. Langston, and K. Longenecker, 15 Nov. 2002.

Paratypes. Fiji - CAS 229857 , 14.4 mm, female, Viti Levu , Charybdis Reef, 17º12.772’S, 178º04.108’E, 19.8–22.9 m, coral patches on sand, rotenone, field number G02-65, D.W. Greenfield, J.E. Randall, K. Longenecker, and R. Langston , 13 March 2002 ; CAS 229858 , 16.3 mm, female, 17.1 mm, male, same location as CAS 229857, 12.2–16.8 m, base of wall, rotenone, field number G02-66, D.W. Greenfield, J.E. Randall, K. Longenecker and R. Langston , 13 March 2002 ; CAS 229859 , 10 females 9.8–17.2 mm, 11 males 15.3–17.9 mm, Yadua Island , W. of Vanua Levu, Watering Bay, 16º48.111’S, 178º18.679’E, 2.3–9.6 m, fringing reef, rotenone, field number G02-91, D.W. Greenfield, K. Longenecker, and R. Langston , 19 March 2002 ; CAS 229860 , 17 females 13.0– 16.5 mm, 10 males 12.9–17.5 mm, Yadua Island W. of Vanua Levu, S. side, 16º49.864’S, 178º19.625’E, 4.5–7.6 m, reef face, rotenone, field number G02-133, D.W. Greenfield, K. Longenecker , R. Langston and K. Tang, 3 April 2002 ; CAS 229861 , 5 females 16.0– 17.2 mm, 1 male 16.0 mm, Viti Levu , Charybdis Reef, 17º13.138’S, 178º02.851’E, 4.6–7.6 m, patch reef on sand, rotenone, field number G03-81, D.W. Greenfield and T.A. Greenfield , 30 May 2003 ; BPBM 38987 , 1 male, 16.2 mm SL, Viti Levu , Nananni-cake Island, east shore, 17º19.462’S, 178º14.25’E, 7.6–10.7 m, bottom of reef face, rotenone, field number G02-74, D.W. Greenfield, J.E. Randall, K. Longenecker and R. Langston , 15 March 2002 ; BPBM 41030 , 5 females 15.7– 16.9 mm, 3 males 14.8 –17.2 mm, Vanua Levu , Kia Island, 16º14.390’S, 179º05.289’E, 3.0– 6.1 m, fringing reef, rotenone, field number G02-115, D.W. Greenfield, K. Longenecker , R. Langston, B.K. Mataitini and L. Faitala, 28 March 2002 ; FMNH 119164 , 1 female 16.5 mm, 1 male 17.8 mm, Budd Reef , Yvau Island, 16º29.920’S, 179º42.600’W, 15.2 m, patch reef, rotenone, field number G03-49 , R. Langston and J. Pilippoff, 21 May 2003 ; USNM 398647 , 2 females 14.8– 17.2 mm, 3 males 17.4–17.5 mm, same location as FMNH 119164, 8.2–10.4 m, patch reef, rotenone, field number G03-50, D.W. Greenfield and T.A. Greenfield .

Nontypes. Fiji - CAS 229862 (16), CAS 229863 (8), CAS 229864 (8), CAS 229865 (6), CAS 229866 (6), CAS 229867 (5), CAS 229868 (6), CAS 229869 (5), CAS 229870 (4), CAS 229871 (6), CAS 229872 (3), CAS 229873 (3), CAS 229874 (4), CAS 229875 (3), CAS 229876 (3), CAS 229877 (2), CAS 229878 (2), CAS 229879 (2), CAS 229880 (2), CAS 229881 (2), CAS 229882 (3), 229883 (1), CAS 229884 (1), CAS 229885 (1), CAS 229886 (1), CAS 229887 (1), CAS 229888 (1), CAS 229889 (1), CAS 229890 (1), CAS 229891 (1), CAS 229892 (1), CAS 229893 (1), CAS 229894 (1), CAS 229895 (4), CAS 217050 (1), CAS 217123 (1), CAS 217126 (1), CAS 217203 (1), CAS 217204 (3), CAS 217206 (3), CAS 217208 (1), CAS 219784 (2).

Other material examined. Eviota melasma – Australia: CAS 43546 (9) , paratypes, Endeavour Reef ; BPBM 14418 (1) , Great Barrier Reef, One Tree Island . Indonesia: BPBM 32274 (1) Molucca Island, Ambon Bay ; BPBM 37339 (1) Flores ; BPBM 37367 (3) and BPBM 39067 (1) Wetar ; BPBM 38646 (1) Komodo Group, Rinca ; BPBM 38648 (1) Sangeang ; BPBM 38793 (1) Sangeang ; BPBM 38794 (1) Satonda Island . Papua New Guinea, New Britain: BPBM 39028 (1) Kimbe Bay . Eviota smaragdus – American Samoa: SU8712 (7) , paratypes; Mariana Islands: CAS 43758 (37).

Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes E. karaspila from congeners: a dark, prominent occipital spot; eye 33.7–39.3 % HL; caudal-peduncle depth 10.3–12.9% SL; body slender 16.7– 21.3% SL; nape and dorsal midline of trunk without dark spots; dorsal/anal fin-ray formula 9/8; 16–17 pectoral-fin rays, some branched; cephalic sensory-pore system pattern group I (complete); 5 th segmented pelvic-fin ray 8–16% of 4 th ray; genital papilla non-fimbriate; lacks two orange patches behind the eye in live or fresh individuals.

Description. Dorsal-fin rays VI+I,9; anal-fin rays I,8; pectoral-fin rays 17 (16–17), some rays branched

(rays13–16 branched in holotype); 5 th segmented pelvic-fin ray 16% (8–16%) of 4 th ray; branches on 4th pelvic-fin ray 5–6 (4–6), 2–3 segments between branches; 12 (12–13) branched caudal-fin rays; segmented caudal-fin rays 17; lateral scale rows 25 (24–25); transverse scale rows 7; breast scaleless; anterior spines of first dorsal fin extending to origin of second dorsal fin in some; pelvic fins reaching to or past anal-fin origin; cephalic sensory-pore system pattern group I (complete); male genital papilla non-fimbriate and long, usually extending to or past the anal-fin spine.

Measurements (based on holotype and nine paratypes): Standard length 14.4 –17.9 mm; head length 29.3

(27.0–29.3, 28.2); origin of first dorsal fin 35.5 (29.6–38.9, 35.0); origin of second dorsal fin 54.7 (53.0–56.2, 55.3); origin of anal fin 54.7 (53.1–57.5, 55.6); caudal-peduncle length 27.9 (25.6–32.6, 28.6); caudalpeduncle depth 10.6 (10.3–12.9, 11.6); body depth 17.9 (16.7–21.3, 19.5); eye diameter 10.9 (9.1–10.9, 10.2); snout length 3.6 (3.2–5.0, 4.0); pectoral-fin length 36.3 (24.3–37.8, 31.6); pelvic-fin length 30.2 (28.1–33.6, 31.4).

Color in preservative of holotype ( Fig. 6 ). Color of head and body pale yellowish. A dark, prominent occipital spot, about the size of the pupil, located at the level of the upper half of the eye above the opercle. A peppering of small, black dots behind the upper half of the eye, across the midline. A few scattered, small, black dots on cheek, snout and jaws. A more intense scattering of small, black dots on the pectoral-fin base and down across and under the body as a band to the other pectoral-fin base. A similar band of small, black dots extends along the belly from under the pelvic fins back to and surrounding the anus and onto the genital papilla. Anal fin dark brown to black. Distal quarter of first dorsal fin tipped with dark brown. Second dorsal and caudal fins with distal one-third dark brown. Other specimens may have more scattered small, black dots on nape and along bases of dorsal fins, with stronger dark pigment along scale pockets.

Color in life ( Fig. 1 ). Body translucent white with a yellowish tinge. An internal silver stripe running along the vertebral column and a shorter silver area extending above the body cavity. Scales outlined with yellow and fine black dots. Abdomen dusky to blackish. Head and snout silver, sprinkled with small black dots. Cheek area dark. Pupil surrounded by a bright yellow circle, remainder of iris yellow with distinct black spots, more apparent dorsally. Occipital spot above cheek jet black. Fin rays of first dorsal fin yellow, basal portion of membranes yellow, lower two-thirds clear and distal third dusky. Lower half of second dorsal fin clear, distal half dusky. Anal-fin rays clear, membranes black. Caudal fin with scattered dark dots on rays of central portion, distal margin dusky as is lower one-quarter of fin. Pectoral fins clear. In fresh specimens ( Fig. 2 ), the body becomes more opaque and the blackish dots and orange pigmentation around the scale pockets becomes more obvious.

Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective combining the Greek kara (head) and spilous (spot), referring to the distinctive occipital spot. Common name - Eastern Headspot Pygmygoby.

Comparisons. Eviota karaspila has a complete cephalic sensory-pore system (Group I of Lachner and Karnella 1980), bringing the number of species in this group to 25 ( Greenfield and Randall 2010). Eviota karaspila has a dorsal/anal formula of 9/8, and the only other species in Group I with that formula that have a single, prominent dark occipital spot are E. melasma Lachner and Karnella 1980 and E. smaragdus Jordan and Seale 1906.

Eviota melasma has two distinct orange patches in life, often outlined in black, between the eye and the occipital spot ( Figs. 3–5 ), whereas E. karaspila lacks these patches. In addition, the general body coloration, and particularly dark patches over the abdominal area, differs between the two. Eviota karaspila often appears almost white, with orange pigment on the scale edges in some individuals, whereas there is more pigment in E. melasma with the abdominal patches being obvious. Eviota karaspila also has a larger eye than similar sized E. melasma , 33.7–39.9, 36.7 % HL for E. karaspila , and 28.4–34.1, 31.9 for E. melasma ( Fig. 7 ).

Following their description of E. melasma, Lachner and Karnella (1980) made a comparison with E. smaragdus , both species possessing a prominent occipital spot. We also noted the obvious need to compare our E. karaspila with E. smaragdus . We examined the paratypes of E. smaragdus from American Samoa (SU 8712) and specimens from the Mariana Islands (CAS 43758), which agreed with the paratypes. Eviota smaragdus differs in having dark bars running across the nape in advance of the first dorsal fin, and also dark spots along the dorsal-fin bases as shown in Figs. 8a and b in Lachner and Karnella (1980), that are lacking in E. karaspila . In addition, E. smaragdus has a much deeper caudal peduncle than E. karaspila (13.4–14.9, 14.1 % SL vs. 10.3–12.9, 11.6 % SL ( Fig. 8 ). The partypes of E. melasma we examined had a caudal-peduncle depth range of 11.4–12.6% Sl.

Remarks. Morphometric characters have been little used in comparisons of species of Eviota (the deepbodied Eviota herrei , a noteworthy exception). The current study has shown the value of comparing body proportions to provide additional separation of similar species. In this paper we have discovered that there was a difference in eye size between the specimens of E. karaspila and E. melasma to the west, and E. karaspila has a more slender caudal peduncle than the similar E. smaragdus . It appears that more attention should be paid to differences in body proportions among Eviota species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Eviota karaspila, photograph of live fish from Fiji, Viti Levu, Nananui-i-Cake. Estimated length 22 mm SL. Photograph by J.E. Randall.

FIGURE 2. Eviota karaspila, photograph of freshly collected paratype (BPBM 38987) taken underwater. Photograph by J.E. Randall.

FIGURE 3. Eviota melasma, photograph of live fish from Heron Island, Australia. Estimated length 28 mm TL. Photograph by J.E. Randall.

FIGURE 4. Eviota melasma, photograph of live fish from Lizard Island, Australia. Photograph by A. González-Cabello.

FIGURE 5. Eviota melasma, photograph of live fish from Lizard Island, Australia. Photograph by A. González-Cabello.

FIGURE 6. Eviota karaspila, holotype, 17.9 mm SL, CAS 229856.

FIGURE 7. Plot of eye diameter as percentage of HL versus SL for Eviota karaspila from Fiji and E. melasma from Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

FIGURE 8. Plot of caudal-peduncle depth versus SL for Eviota karaspila from Fiji and E. smaragdus from American Samoa and the Mariana Islands.