Starksia williamsi Baldwin & Castillo

Baldwin, Carole C., Castillo, Cristina I., Weigt, Lee A. & Benjamin C., Victor, 2011, Seven new species within western Atlantic Starksia atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri (Teleostei, Labrisomidae), with comments on congruence of DNA barcodes and species, ZooKeys 79, pp. 21-72 : 35-37

Starksia williamsi Baldwin & Castillo sp. n. Figs 181011Table 2

Type Locality:

Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles

Holotype.

USNM 387675, sta. SABA-06-12, 21 mmSL, male, Saba Bank (Netherland Antilles), 19 m, 17°14'23"N, 63°26'55"W, 8 Jan 2006, Saba 2006 expedition team.

Paratypes (all Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles).

All paratypes are non-DNA vouchers except USNM 397396. USNM 397396, sta. SABA-06-01, female, just south of Poison Bank, 17°28.47'N, 63°13.40'W, 24-27 m, 4 Jan 2006 (DNA voucher of SAB 0601010-length unknown, posterior portion of body removed for DNA tissue sample); USNM 399613, sta. SABA-06-12, 3 specimens: (1) 21.5 mm SL male, (1) 22.5 mm SL female, (1) 20.0 mm SL female, 19 m, 17°14'23"N, 63°26'55"W, 8 Jan 2006;USNM 387869, sta. SABA-06-05, 4 specimens: (1) 21.5 mm SL male, (1) 19.5 mm SL male, (1) 19.5 mm SL female, (1) 19 mm SL female, overall bank, east side, 26-28 m, 17°24'36"N, 63°11'45"W, 6 Jan 2006; USNM 388033, sta. SABA-06-25, 8 specimens: (1) 22.5 mm SL male, (1) 20.5 mm SL female (1) 20.0 mm SL female (1) 19.5 mm SL female, (1) 21.5 mm SL male, (3) juveniles 8.5 -11.5 mm SL, near Coral Garden at southeast, 15-18 m, 17°21'10"N, 63°15'08"W, 14 Jan 2006. USNM 388444, sta. SABA-06-21, 4 specimens: (1)18.5 mm SL female, (3) juveniles 7.5-9.0 mm SL, northeastern shallow flats, 20 m, 17°28'03"N, 63°14'59"W, 12 Jan 2006; USNM 387767, (3) females 19.5-20.0 mm SL, (4) juveniles 8.0-11.0 mm SL, sta. SABA-06-01, just south of Poison Bank, groove in reef with sand bottom, 24-27 m, 17°28'47"N, 63°13'40"W, 4 Jan 2006.

Additional Material (not DNA vouchers, all Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles).

USNM 388392, 6 specimens; USNM 388589, 3; USNM 387623, 1; USNM 387733, 4; USNM 388355, 2.

Diagnosis.

A species of Starksia distinguished by the following combination of characters: orbital cirrus present; belly scaled; trunk pale to tan (dark orange/tan to bright orange in life), without distinct bars or other markings; lips without conspicuous white spotting, distinct banding, or dark bars-usually with lightly scattered melanophores in preserved specimens; total dorsal elements 27; total vertebrae usually 32; dorsal spines + anal soft rays + vertebrae modally 75.

Description.

See Table 2. Dorsal spines XIX–XX, rarely XX (XIX in holotype); segmented dorsal rays 7-8, usually 8 (8); total dorsal elements (27); anal spines II; segmented anal rays 16-17, rarely 17 (16); dorsal segmented caudal-fin rays (7); ventral segmented caudal-fin rays (6); dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays bimodal at 5-6 (6); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 5-6, rarely 6 (6); segmented pelvic-fin rays 2; pectoral-fin rays 11-13, usually 13 (13); vertebrae 9-10+22= 31-32, rarely 31 (10+22=32); usually one pair of infraorbital pores at 3 o’clock (one specimen with all infraorbital pores unpaired); orbital cirri present; nape cirri present; anterior nostril cirri present; belly and pectoral-fin base completely scaled.

Specimens examined ranging from 18.5 mm to 22.5 mm SL; HL 34-38% SL; male genital-papilla length between two-thirds and three-fourths length of first anal spine, papilla 1.0-1.25 mm and free from spine.

Pigment.

Trunk dark orange/tan to bright orange, color nearly uniform-i.e., without indistinct dark bars and pale areas; two small (less than half pupil diameter) dark spots on posterior portion of trunk, one at posterior end of dorsal fin and one at posterior base of anal fin. Both sexes with orange heads, a few small pale spots on lips and lacrimal region, and six or seven white spots around pupil, spots separated by darker areas (effectively a candy-stripe pattern). Males with prominent dark blotch on cheek and uniformly orange/tan lips; females without dark blotch on cheek and with mottling of orange and pale blotches on lips. Males with red pigment on dorsal fin largely confined to blotches at base and little red pigment on rest of fin and other median fins (but with numerous melanophores on dorsal, caudal, and anal fins); females with bright orange spotting on dorsal, anal, and caudal fins (but without prominent melanophores except one dark spot sometimes present in anterior portion of spinous dorsal); males with yellowish brown pectoral fin, females with orange pectoral fin; pelvic fin clear.

Color in preservative.

Males tan, usually with fairly heavy pigment on head, trunk, and dorsal-, anal-, outer caudal-, and posterior portions of pectoral-fin rays; prominent dark blotch on cheek retained in preservative; no dark spots, streaks or bars on lips. Females mostly pale, sometimes with noticeable concentrations of melanophores on cheek, jaws and gular region, but no prominent dark cheek blotch; lightly scattered melanophores usually present on branchiostegals, opercle, belly, median and pectoral fins; no conspicuous pattern of dark and pale blotches on lips, but light bar present across lips just posterior to symphysis and sometimes a few spots present just anterior to end of upper and lower jaws; posterior tips of upper and lower jaws usually pale.

Etymology.

Named in honor of Jeffrey T. Williams, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, in recognition of his work on blennioid fishes, including Starksia . Jeff’s field-collecting efforts at Saba Bank, Tobago, and Turks and Caicos resulted in numerous specimens utilized in this study.

Distribution.

Known only from Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles.