Plectranthias cruentus Gill & Roberts

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 : 51

Plectranthias cruentus Gill & Roberts

Figure 15–16 ; Tables 1–16, 22

Common name: Bloody Perchlet

Plectranthias sp. C.— Williams et al. 2006: appendix 8: 29 (colour photo of holotype).— Clark & Roberts 2008: 51, fig. 18 (colour photo of holotype).

Plectranthias cruentus Gill & Roberts 2020: 561 , figs 1–2 (type locality, off Balls Pyramid , Lord Howe Rise, Australia).

Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes P. cruentus from all known congeners: dorsal rays X,16–17, fifth or sixth spine longest; pectoral rays 13, at least some middle rays branched, upper 5 or more unbranched; predorsal scales extending forward only to supratemporal commissure. Its live coloration is also distinctive: dorsal and lateral body bright orange, becoming yellow-orange ventrally, crossed by narrow, red-edged pink oblique bars, which also extend along base of anal fin; posterior part of caudal peduncle with broad orange-red bar, caudal fin yellow.

Remarks. The description in Gill & Roberts (2020) is compatible with methods used herein. They described P. cruentus from the holotype and three paratypes from Lord Howe Island and vicinity, but tentatively identified a (non-type) specimen from off Moreton Bay, Queensland as conspecific. Further material is needed to verify the species’ occurrence in mainland Australian waters. Gill & Roberts provided a colour photograph of the holotype, which has been also reproduced by Williams et al. (2006) and Clark & Roberts (2008). We provide a photo of the preserved holotype ( Figure 15 ). Morphometric data are provided in Table 22 .

Material examined. Australia. AMS I.12854, 43.0 mm SL (paratype), Lord Howe Island , P . R. Pedley , 1913 ; AMS I.35797-007, 37.4 mm SL, Queensland, off Point Lookout, Stradbroke Island , 27°27.37′S, 153°39′E, 77 m (stated depth 42 fathoms), W.F. Ponder , RANS Kimbla , 29 Mar 1969 ; AMS I.42725-007, 57.3 mm SL (holotype) , NMNZ P.039081, 52.7 mm SL (paratype) , NMNZ P.061156, 44.4 mm SL (paratype), Lord Howe Island, off Balls Pyramid , 31°49.11′S, 159°20.14′E, 86–89 m, Sherman sled , R. V. Tangaroa , 22 May 2003 ( TAN 0308 /061) .

Figures

FIGURE 15. Plectranthias cruentus, AMS I. 42725-007, 57.3 mm SL, preserved holotype, off Ball’s Pyramid, near Lord Howe Island, Australia. Photo by A.C. Gill.

FIGURE 16. Distribution records for Plectranthias cruentus (open circles) and P. fourmanoiri (closed circle, mainland Australia only).