RESEARCH ARTICLE
Chrysiptera uswanasi,
a new microendemic species of damselfish (Teleostei:
Pomacentridae) from West Papua Province, Indonesia
Gerald R. Allen, Mark V.
Erdmann & N.K. Dita Cahyani
Abstract
Chrysiptera uswanasi, n. sp., the seventh member
of the Chrysiptera oxycephala species complex
of Pomacentridae, is described on the basis of 10
specimens, 24.7-45.3 mm SL, collected at the
Fakfak Peninsula of New Guinea (West Papua Province,
Indonesia). The new taxon is a microendemic species,
found only in a small area around the Fakfak Peninsula.
It differs from other members of the group, C.
burtjonesi (Solomon Islands), C. ellenae
(Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua Province in Indonesia),
C. maurineae (Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua
Province), C. oxycephala (central Indonesia,
Philippines, and Palau), C. papuensis (NE Papua
New Guinea), and C. sinclairi (Bismarck Archipelago
and islands off NE Papua New Guinea), on the basis
of its distinctive color pattern and a 9.3% divergence
in the sequence of the mitochondrial control region
from its closest relative (C. oxycephala).
Adults are mainly greenish yellow grading to pearly
gray ventrally with numerous small blue or greenish
spots on the head, body, and basal portion of the
dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, and juveniles have
a distinctive bright blue snout and forehead. The
adult differs from the adults of most of the other
members of the group in lacking bright yellow on the
ventral body, including the pelvic and anal fins.
The two other species in the complex that are also
lacking bright yellow ventral bodies and fins are
C. ellenae, which differs in being overall more
green and having an all blue juvenile stage, and
C. sinclairi, which is mostly dark blue, both
as adults and juveniles.
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CITATION:
Allen, G.R., Erdmann, M.V.
& Cahyani, N.K.D. (2018) Chrysiptera uswanasi,
a new microendemic species of damselfish (Teleostei:
Pomacentridae) from West Papua Province, Indonesia.
Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 31,
74-86.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1482015
publication date: 12 November
2018
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