Selenanthias Tanaka

Gill, Anthony C., Pogonoski, John J., Moore, Glenn I. & Johnson, Jeffrey W., 2021, Review of Australian species of Plectranthias Bleeker and Selenanthias Tanaka (Teleostei: Serranidae: Anthiadinae), with descriptions of four new species, Zootaxa 4918 (1), pp. 1-116 : 105

Selenanthias Tanaka

Selenanthias Tanaka, 1918: 516 (masculine; type species Selenanthias analis Tanaka 1918 , by original designation and monotypy).

Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes Selenanthias from all other serranid genera: dorsal rays X,15–19; predorsal formula 0/0+0/2/1+1 (rarely 0/0+0/2+1/1); anal rays III,7; pectoral rays 14–16, most rays branched; branched caudal rays 8+7; lateral line complete, with 33–39 tubed scales; scales ctenoid with basal cteni; lateral line broadly arched over pectoral fin following body contour to caudal-fin base; scales present on maxilla, mandibles, chin, snout above nostrils and infraorbitals (including at least ventral tip of IO1); no auxiliary scales on head or body; gill rakers 8–11+19–25=28–35; vomer with V-shaped to triangular patch of small teeth; vertebrae 10+16.

Remarks. Three species are currently recognised in Selenanthias : S. analis Tanaka, 1918 , S. barroi ( Fourmanoir, 1982) , and S. myersi Randall, 1995 , only one of which, S. analis , has been previously recorded from Australian waters ( Gloerfelt-Tarp & Kailola 1984). We herein newly record S. barroi from Australia, based on specimens collected in the Coral Sea, off Queensland. Sih et al. (2017) recorded an unidentified Selenanthias from Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVs) on the central Great Barrier Reef in 143– 160 m. The fish in the footage included with Sih et al. ′s publication is not readily identifiable. However, the proximity of the location to the newly recorded locality for S. barroi suggests it may be referrable to that species.

Randall (1995) considered Selenanthias to be closely related to Plectranthias , but it appears more similar to the temperate Southern Hemisphere genus Lepidoperca Regan, 1914 , seven species of which occur in Australian waters ( Allen et al. 2006). The two genera are mostly separated on the basis of superficial characters, such as the number of tubed lateral-line scales (33–39 in Selenanthias versus 38–50 in Lepidoperca ) and the number of segmented anal rays (7 in Selenanthias versus 7–9, usually 8 in most Lepidoperca species). More detailed comparison of the two genera is beyond the scope of the present paper.

Key to Australian Selenanthias species

1 Lower gill rakers 20–23; segmented dorsal rays 16–19, usually 17; larger specimens (males?) with large black blotch on soft part of anal fin................................................................................. S. analis

- Lower gill rakers 22–25; segmented dorsal rays 15–16; males without black blotch on soft part of anal fin......... S. barroi