Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall

Fernandez-Silva, Iria, Randall, John E., Golani, Daniel & Bogorodsky, Sergey V., 2016, Mulloidichthysflavolineatusflavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall (Perciformes, Mullidae), a new subspecies of goatfish from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, ZooKeys 605, pp. 131-157 : 137-140

Taxon classification Animalia Perciformes Mullidae

Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall subsp. n. Figures 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13(holotype), 14; Tables 1, 2, 3, 4.

Mulloides flavolineatus (non Lacepède, 1801): Dor 1984: 161 (Red Sea listed); Ben-Tuvia and Kissil 1988: 3 (Gulf of Aqaba); Goren and Dor 1994: 44 (Red Sea listed); Debelius 1998: 112 (Egypt).

Mulloidichthys flavolineatus (non Lacepède, 1801): Randall 1995: 239 (Oman); Khalaf and Disi 1997: 117 (Jordan); Zajonz et al. 2000: 155 (Socotra); Lieske and Myers 2004: 123 (Mangrove Bay, El Quseir); Golani and Bogorodsky 2010: 35 (Red Sea listed); Field 2013: 47 (Gulf of Oman).

Holotype.

SMF 35486 [ex SMF 24824], 142 mm SL, Red Sea, Sudan, Sanganeb Atoll (19°39'N; 37°14'E), April 1991, coll. F. Krupp, V. Neumann & T. Paulus.

Paratypes.

SMF 24818, 6: 106-125 mm SL, Red Sea, Sudan, Sanganeb Atoll (19°39'N; 37°14'E), April 1991, coll. F. Krupp, V. Neumann & T. Paulus; USNM 221124, 181 mm SL, Red Sea, Egypt, off "ancient site" of Koseir along reef in cove ca. 5 km north of Koseir town (26°8'N; 34°16'E), 8 Jan 1965, coll. H. A. Fehlmann; HUJ 9985, 3: 73-93.5 mm SL, Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, El Kura, a few km south of Dahab (28°12'04"N; 34°28'49"E); CAS 237352, 4: 107-147 mm SL, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, Thuwal, inner Fesar (22°13'50"N; 39°01'43"E), 18 April 2014, coll. P. Saenz-Agudelo; BPBM 41246 [ex CAS 237352], 102 mm SL, same data as preceding.

Non-type material.

Gulf of Suez: HUJ 5635, 107 mm SL, A-Tur. Gulf of Aqaba: BPBM 19843, 4: 114-122 mm SL, Nuweiba; CAS 58876, 252 mm SL, Eilat; CAS 206715, 133 mm SL, Eilat; CAS 206726, 198 mm SL, Eilat; CAS 206736, 167 mm SL, Eilat; HUJ 5905, 2: 128-144 mm SL, Eilat; HUJ 20216, 4: 107-110 mm SL (poor condition), Eilat; HUJ 8315, 169 mm SL, Ras Muhammed; HUJ 8543, 108 mm SL, Ras Muhammed; HUJ 8658, 2: 164-235 mm SL, Nabq; HUJ 8645, 3: 159-177 mm SL, Sanafir Island; HUJ 11663, 109 mm SL, Eilat; HUJ 8642, 243 mm SL, Nabek. Sudan: SMF 24821, 203 mm SL, Sanganeb Atoll; SMF 24823, 13: 97.5-161 mm SL, Sanganeb Atoll.

Diagnosis.

Body elongate, the depth at first dorsal-fin origin 4.1-4.5 in SL; head moderately compressed, the length 3.0-3.3 in SL; snout long, slightly blunt. Barbels usually not reaching a vertical at posterior margin of preopercle, their length 4.1-5.0 in SL. Eye diameter 10.3-13.5 in SL. Pectoral-fin rays 16-18. Gill-raker counts 25-28 (usually 26 or 27); lateral-line scales 37-38. Caudal fin yellowish to yellow. [Diagnosis based on the Red Sea proper population, i.e. excluding the Gulf of Aqaba, see remarks].

Description.

Meristics are provided in Tables 1 & 2 and measurements as % of SL in Table 4 and Fig. 14. Below, morphometric ratios are given as ratios of SL for the holotype and in parentheses for selected paratypes (n=7), except where indicated.

Body elongate, its depth at first dorsal-fin origin 4.1 (4.2-4.5), and maximum width 6.7 (6.5-7.3), head length 3.2 (3.0-3.3, n=27), snout length 6.9 (6.8-7.7), orbit diameter 13.0 (10.3-13.5, n=27), barbel length 4.5 (4.2-5.1, n=27), caudal-peduncle length 4.8 (4.6-5.1), caudal-peduncle depth 11.6 (11.4-12.0), pelvic-fin length 4.9 (4.7-5.3), pectoral-fin length 4.8 (4.7-5.1), longest anal ray 7.5 (7.2-7.7), longest dorsal spine 4.8 (4.6-5.1), longest dorsal ray 7.2 (7.2-7.8).

Mouth small, maxilla not reaching a vertical at front of orbit, upper-jaw length 12.3 (12.2-13.9) in SL; jaws with small conical teeth, in two rows with teeth more irregularly placed between both rows; no teeth on the vomer and palatines; anterior nostril small, elliptical, two-thirds eye diameter in front of eye; posterior nostril small, elliptical, at dorsoanterior corner of orbit; opercular spine flat, at mid-eye height.

Scales very finely ctenoid; head fully scaled; scales on the base of caudal fin, other fins without scales; dorsal fin behind the vertical at fourth lateral line scale, origin of second dorsal above 18th (17th in some paratypes) scale. Pored scales on lateral line with many branching tubules.

Color.

Color in life silvery white to yellowish, slightly darker over lateral line; margin of each scale on upper half of body darker than scale. Yellow stripe on side of body at level of eye, from posterior margin of orbit to caudal-fin base, bordered by a narrow whitish stripe (stripe sometimes slightly blue); the stripe usually containing a black spot above posterior part of pectoral fins (under the first dorsal fin), sometimes faint due to fading, stripe anterior to spot occasionally indistinct; barbels white; dorsal fins usually transparent, sometimes first dorsal fin with yellowish tinge; pectoral, anal, and pelvic fins whitish, translucent; caudal fin yellowish or yellow. Color when fresh often pink and all fins yellow. Uniformly creamy white in preservative.

Etymology.

Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. is named in reference to the yellow color of the caudal fin, in contrast to the whitish gray color of the caudal fin of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus .

Distribution.

Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. is restricted to the NW Indian Ocean biogeographic province, where it ranges from various locations in the Red Sea (including the Gulf of Aqaba), the Gulf of Tadjoura, the Gulf of Aden, and Socotra (Fig. 9). Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. has extended its range to Oman (Fig. 11) and probably to the Maldives (Fig. 12), where it has encountered the western distribution of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus . Underwater photographs of fish with yellow and gray caudal fins suggest overlap and interbreeding by the two subspecies. Carpenter et al. (1997) included Mulloidichthys flavolineatus in their catalog of fishes of the Arabian Gulf. They did not cite any voucher specimens, and the photo they used is from Mauritius.

Remarks.

The population of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. in the Gulf of Aqaba differs from that in the Red Sea proper by having smaller eyes (11.0-15.8 in SL) and shorter head (3.0-3.6) (Tables 1, 2 and 3). It occasionally also has higher lateral-line scales counts (37-38, occasionally 39) and higher gill-raker counts (25-29).

Comparisons.

Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. differs from its nominal subspecies Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus in having 25-28 (usually 26 or 27) gill-raker counts (26-30, usually 27-29, in Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus ), usually 37-38 lateral-line scales (37-40 in Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus ) and a yellow caudal fin (white to light gray in Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus ). Also, the eyes are smaller in Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. (10.3-13.5 in SL) than in Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus (9.8-15.6 in SL).