Cypselurus oligolepis persicus, Shakhovskoy & Parin, 2022

Shakhovskoy, Ilia B. & Parin, Nikolay V., 2022, A review of the flying fish genus Cypselurus (Beloniformes: Exocoetidae). Part 2. Revision of the subgenus Poecilocypselurus Bruun, 1935 with descriptions of three new species and five new subspecies and reinstatement of Exocoetus apus Valenciennes and E. neglectus Bleeker, Zootaxa 5117 (1), pp. 1-109 : 29-32

Cypselurus oligolepis persicus subsp. nov.

Synonymy and bibliography.

Cypselurus oligolepis . Parin 1984: EXOC Cyp 11 (description, figures, distribution; Western Indian Ocean; in part). Carpenter et al. 1997: 129 (Persian Gulf; in part: figure (after Parin & Besednov 1965) is of C. neglectus ). Kardousha et al. 2016: 3 (listed; Sheraoh I., Qatar). Eagderi et al. 2019: 22–23 (listed; Persian Gulf).

Kuronuma & Abe (1972: 1952, fig. 7) described C. oligolepis from Kuwait. However, we cannot synonymize their species with C. oligolepis persicus because of some characters provided by them: A 8–9, P 14–15, Spred 23–26, lP 62.5% SL, lV 32.3% SL do not accord with those of C. o. persicus. It is likely that these authors compiled the morphological data from earlier publications rather than provided original data. The only other explanation is that they were dealing with C. o. oligolepis .

Probable misidentifications. Randall (1995: fig. 187) included a photograph 2 of C. oligolepis from Oman; however, this specimen (USNM FIN 28137) in our opinion is C. naresii (Günther) .

Material examined. Nine specimens 90–182 mm SL.

Full morphological study. USNM 147840 (holotype), (1, 181 mm SL), Persian Gulf , Saudi Arabia: Ras Tanura, West Pier, 18.05.1948 . SOSC uncat. (1, 161 mm SL), 25°21’N 58°12’E, 30.11.1963 .

Partial morphological study. USNM FIN 281353 (1, 182 mm SL), Saudi Arabia, Jubail , 28.05.1985 . MTUF P- 20074* (paratype) (1, 90 mm SL), Arabian Gulf : off Qatar, 2.05.1969 . MTUF uncat.* (5, 158– 171 mm SL), Kuwait fishmarket.

Holotype ( Fig. 9a–b ). USNM 147840, Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia: Ras Tanura, West Pier, 18 May 1948, coll.: Erdman, Field No.: U-48-69, Acc. No.:178732. Length 181 mm SL (running ripe female). D 12, A 9, P I 15, Spred 30, Str 10½, Sp.br 22? (5? + 17), Vert 42 (26 + 16). Measurements (in % SL): aA 79.0, aD 70.9, aV 58.9, cV 33.9, pV 40.7, c 24.0, po 10.6, o 7.1, ao 4.9, io 8.8, Hc 17.7, H 19.9, h 7.2, Dc 26.2, lP 69.2, lP 1 38.6, lV 31.3, lD 18.6, lA 9.8, HD -, HA 6.1, p 14.4. Body darker dorsally, paler ventrally. Dark specks below eye absent, two dark specks present on gill cover. Pectoral fins dark brown to 9 th ray with small pale tip and very narrow pale posterior margin ( Fig. 9b ). Pectoral fin tip slightly behind end of dorsal-fin base. Pelvic fins pale, their tips nearly reaching last anal-fin ray. Dorsal fin pale gray, tip of its last ray extending behind the middle of caudal peduncle but not reaching origin of caudal-fin upper lobe. Anal fin pale, its first ray beneath 6 th dorsal-fin ray; third anal-fin ray longest. Caudal fin pale brown with dark dots along posterior margin. Lower jaw shorter than upper jaw; teeth small, numerous, tricuspid; arranged in 3 rows. Palatine teeth small, numerous.

Paratype. MTUF P-20074, 90 mm SL, Arabian Gulf : off Qatar, 2 May 1969, coll. by Yoshin-Maru .

Description. Meristic and morphometric characters are given in Tables 1–5 , 8 and 10. D 12–13, A 9–10 (usually 9), P I 14–15, Spred 26–30, Str 8½–10½, Sp.br 21–25 (5–7 + 16–18), Vert 42–43 (26–28 + 15–16). Snout relatively short, upper jaw not pointed anteriorly ( Fig. 9c–d ). Lower jaw usually shorter than upper jaw. Jaw teeth numerous, small, mainly tricuspid, some with additional cusps; arranged in three rows. Palatine teeth present, numerous.

In fish 90–181 mm SL, body relatively elongate to rather deep, greatest body depth 4.8–5.5 in SL. Body width and caudal peduncle depth 1.25–1.42 and 2.32–2.79 in greatest body depth, respectively. Greatest head depth 5.46– 5.65 in SL. Head length 3.9–4.35 in SL and 1.02–1.20 in dorso-caudal distance. Eyes relatively small ( Fig. 6a ), eye diameter 12.05–14.7 in SL, 3.01–3.65 in с, 1.24–1.40 in io and 1.49–1.63 in po.

Pectoral fins long ( Fig. 6c ), their length 1.40–1.56 in SL. Tip of pectoral fin in a 90 mm SL juvenile reaching posterior part of dorsal-fin base; in fish 161–181 mm SL extending behind end of dorsal-fin base, sometimes reaching middle of caudal peduncle. First pectoral-fin ray unbranched, its length 2.21–2.85 in SL and 1.57–1.82 in lP. Pelvic-fin base closer to posterior margin of head than to origin of caudal-fin lower lobe (cV / pV = 0.79–0.83; cV 1 / pV = 0.77–0.86). Pelvic fins long, their length strongly decreasing with growth ( Fig. 6d ): in a juvenile 90 mm SL pelvic fin 2.8 in SL and 1.79 in lP; in fish 161–181 mm SL, 3.19–3.33 in SL and 2.21–2.32 in lP. Tip of pelvic fin in a juvenile 90 mm SL slightly protruding beyond end of anal-fin base; in fish 161–181 mm SL reaching posterior part of anal-fin base.

Anal-fin origin far behind dorsal-fin origin; 1 st anal-fin ray beneath 5 th –7 th (beneath 3 rd –4 th in a juvenile 90 mm SL) dorsal-fin ray. Dorsal fin with 3–4 rays more than anal fin. Height of dorsal fin 8.1–8.6 in SL. Height of anal fin 10.5–16.4 in SL. The longest dorsal-fin ray 1 st or 2 nd; the longest anal-fin ray 2 nd or 3 rd. Tip of last dorsal-fin ray protruding beyond middle of caudal peduncle but not reaching origin of caudal-fin upper lobe. Middle and posterior dorsal-fin rays not elongated (tips of penultimate rays not protruding beyond tip of last ray).

Pigmentation. Body with usual “pelagic” pigmentation (darker dorsally, paler ventrally, see Fig. 9c ), body bands absent. Pectoral fins brown or dark brown to 9 th –11 th ray with pale tip and, usually, with small pale “mirror” to 6 th –9 th ray. Pelvic fins pale; only a juvenile 90 mm SL with small black spot near outer margin of fin distally. Dorsal fin grayish to pale brownish, anal fin pale. Caudal fin pale brown.

Coloration in life. No data.

Maximum size. According to our data the maximum length of C. oligolepis persicus is 182 mm SL ( USNM FIN 28135, Saudi Arabia, Jubail , 28 May 1985) .

Intrasubspecies variation. No data.

Comparative remarks. Cypselurus oligolepis persicus differs from other subspecies of C. oligolepis in pectoral fin pigmentation (pigmented to 9 th –11 th ray vs. usually to 7 th –9 th ray), more transverse scales (usually ≥ 9.5 vs. usually <9) and predorsal scales (usually ≥ 27 vs. usually <27), in a more elongate body with lower values of h, H and Hc ( Table 8) and in slightly longer pectoral fins and smaller eye diameter in adults ( Fig. 6a, c ). This subspecies also differs from C. o. georgii and C. o. apus in longer pelvic fins ( Fig. 6d ), more vertebrae (42–43 vs. usually ≤ 41) and more anal-fin rays (9–10 vs. usually 8).

Etymology. The subspecies name reflects its distribution mainly in the Persian Gulf.

Common names. The name “Persian largescale flying fish” (Russian: Персидский малочеШуйный стрижехвост) is proposed here.

Biology. The only mature (running ripe) female of this subspecies examined ( USNM 147840 (holotype), 181 mm SL) was captured on 18 May 1948 in waters of Saudi Arabia ( Ras Tanura , West Pier ). Small juveniles 10–20 mm SL ( USNM 147817 , Persian Gulf : Bahrain I., Manama Pier ) were captured on 15 June 1948 (these juveniles will be described in a subsequent publication). Thus spawning takes place in May–June. However, the capture of a large juvenile 90 mm SL in May ( MTUF P-20074), suggests that spawning also occurs earlier.

Distribution. Cypselurus oligolepis persicus occurs ( Fig. 3 ) in the Persian Gulf; there is also a capture in the Gulf of Oman (SOSC uncat., 25°21’N 58°12’E) in November. Likely in wintertime, when waters of the Persian Gulf are cool ( Carpenter et al. 1997), C. o. persicus migrate to the Gulf of Oman, where the temperature regime is more favourable at this season. However, this matter requires further study.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Cypselurus starksi (□), C. oligolepis oligolepis (○), C. o. persicus (◊), C. o. georgii ( ) and C . izumii (Δ). Filled symbols indicate capture location for fishes ≤ 100 mm SL, open symbols indicate capture location for fishes> 100 mm SL. Positions of holotypes marked with asterisk.

FIGURE 6. Size variation of morphometric characters (in % SL) in Cypselurus oligolepis (□— C. o. oligolepis, ○— C. o. apus, ∆— C. o. persicus, +—C. o. georgii), C. clariangulatus (◊) and C. izumii (x): (A)—diameter of eye (o); (B)—width of interorbital space (io); (C)—length of pectoral fin (lP); (D)—length of pelvic fin (lV); (E)—postorbital distance divided by diameter of eye (index po/o); (F)—pectoral fin length divided by pelvic fin length (index lP/lV).

FIGURE 9. Cypselurus oligolepis persicus: (A)—181 mm SL, USNM 147840 (holotype), Ras Tanura, West Pier; (B)—same specimen, pectoral fin; (C)—182 mm SL, USNM FIN 28135, Saudi Arabia, Jubail (photo by J.E. Randall, from the USNM website); (D)—171 mm SL, MTUF uncat, Kuwait fishmarket (drawing by T.N. Steyker).