Pomadasys maculatus (Bloch, 1793)

Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Alpermann, Tilman J., Mal, Ahmad O. & Gabr, Mohamed H., 2014, Survey of demersal fishes from southern Saudi Arabia, with five new records for the Red Sea, Zootaxa 3852 (4), pp. 401-437 : 424-425

Pomadasys maculatus (Bloch, 1793)

( Fig. 10 )

Material examined. SMF 35114 (1: 9.3 cm); SMF 35115 (4: 8.0– 9.4 cm); KAUMM 156 (5: 7.8–8.4 cm); SMF 35117 (1: 18.8 cm), obtained from local fishermen at the Jizan fish market, collected in the near surroundings of Jizan.

Description. Dorsal-fin rays XII,14 or 15 (14: 10; 15: 1); anal-fin rays III,7; pectoral-fin rays 17; lateral-line scales 50–52 (50: 2; 51: 3; 52: 6); scales between origin of dorsal fin and lateral line 9; gill rakers 5 or 6 + 13 or 14; body depth 2.6–2.9 in standard length; head length 2.9–3.2 in standard length; snout short, the length 3.3–3.9 in head length; chin with a median pit and two pores; mouth small, upper jaw just reaching to below anterior margin of eye; dorsal profile of head smoothly convex; orbit subequal to snout length, the diameter 3.3–4.0 in head length; preorbital depth 4.6–4.9 (4.3 in specimen SMF 35117) in head length; interorbital width 4.1–5.0 in (3.2 in specimen SMF 35117) head length; fourth dorsal spine longest, the length 1.7–2.0 in head length; last two dorsal spines subequal; longest anal-fin spine 2.0– 2.2 in head length; caudal peduncle depth 1.8–2.2 in its length; caudal fin slightly forked, the length 4.1–5.1 in SL.

Color (when fresh): silvery with three yellowish brown bars, first broad, curved, from nape to below anterior part of lateral line, second curved bar below spinous dorsal fin on upper half of body, the bar is broken in three specimens (8.4, 9.3, and 18.8 cm), the third broken bar below last spines of dorsal fin, two small blotches along back below middle of soft dorsal fin and end of fin respectively, and spot on lateral line below end of dorsal fin; upper part of opercular membrane dark yellow; a large black blotch in dorsal fin between third and sixth or seventh spines; caudal fin greyish; pelvic and anal fins semi-translucent with whitish spines; pectoral fins translucent, sometimes with yellowish hue.

Distribution. Throughout the Indian Ocean to eastern Australia and southern Japan; in the northern part of the western Indian Ocean reported from Oman ( Randall 1995) and Somalia ( Sommer et al. 1996) and the Red Sea (this study).

Remarks. The species is found in coastal inshore waters on sandy substrata; the Red Sea record is confirmed on the basis of a dozen specimens collected by trawl off Jizan, Saudi Arabia, from a depth range of 21– 24 m. Fowler & Steinitz (1956: 276) listed a single specimen of 3 cm SL from Eilat without a description (at present this specimen is lost, D. Golani, pers. comm.); Golani & Bogorodsky (2010) did not include the species in their checklist, and noted that “all previous records (see Dor 1984) are probably misidentifications of Pomadasys kaakan (Cuvier, 1830) ”. The largest specimen of 18.8 cm SL has a deeper preorbital and a broader interorbital space in comparison with smaller specimens; more specimens are required to see the dynamics of changes of these two characters with growth. The species can be distinguished easily from other Red Sea congeners Pomadasys argenteus (Forsskål, 1775) , P. k a ak a n, P. punctulatus (Rüppell, 1838) , and P. stridens (Forsskål, 1775) in having three dark bars dorsally on the body and a large black blotch in the spinous portion of the dorsal fin.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Pomadasys maculatus, SMF 35117, 18.8 cm SL, Jizan, Saudi Arabia.