RESEARCH ARTICLE
Pempheris flavicycla,
a new pempherid fish from the Indian Ocean, previously
identified as P. vanicolensis Cuvier
John E. Randall, Sergey V.
Bogorodsky, Tilman J. Alpermann, Ukkrit Satapoomin,
Randall D. Mooi & Ahmad O. Mal
Abstract
Pempheris
flavicycla is described as a new species of sweeper
(Perciformes: Pempheridae) from the Indian Ocean,
including the Red Sea. It has a bright yellow ring
around the pupil of the eye, a black outer border
on the anal and caudal fins, a black spot at the base
of the pectoral fins, 38-44 anal soft rays, 54-61
lateral-line scales, and 29-33 gill rakers. It
is found in clear-water, coral-reef areas not exposed
to heavy seas, and usually in less than 15 m. Two
subspecies are recognized: Pempheris flavicycla
flavicycla from Oman, Tanzania (type locality
Mafia Island), Kenya (Wasini Island), Seychelles,
Republic of Maldives, Lakshadweep, Sri Lanka, and
islands of the Andaman Sea; and Pempheris flavicycla
marisrubri from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Tadjoura
off Djibouti. The Red Sea subspecies differs in having
a larger eye, longer pectoral fins, more ctenoid scales,
the posterior nostril largest, and modally one fewer
pectoral-fin rays. Both subspecies have usually been
misidentified as Pempheris vanicolensis Cuvier
in C. & V. (type locality, Vanikoro Island, Santa
Cruz Islands), which differs in having a brownish
green iris, no black spot at the base of the pectoral
fins, 63-68 lateral-line scales, and 26-29
gill rakers. The range of P. vanicolensis is
extended west to Papua New Guinea, Raja Ampat Islands,
Bali, Sumatra, and the island of Phuket, Thailand
in the Andaman Sea.
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CITATION:
Randall, J.E., Bogorodsky,
S.V., Alpermann, T.J., Satapoomin, U., Mooi, R.D.,
& Mal, A.O. (2013) Pempheris flavicycla,
a new pempherid fish from the Indian Ocean, previously
identified as P. vanicolensis Cuvier. Journal
of the Ocean Science Foundation, 9, 1-23.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1041976
publication date: 31 December
2013
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