Scarus ghobban Fabricius, 1775

Zajonz, Uwe, Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Saeed, Fouad K. N., Aideed, Moteah S. & Lavergne, Edouard, 2023, Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae: Scarini) of the Socotra Archipelago: Diversity and distributional biogeography, including a range extension of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995, Zootaxa 5389 (3), pp. 301-330 : 314

Scarus ghobban Fabricius, 1775

Scarus ghobban Fabricius (ex Forsskål) in Niebuhr, 1775: 28; no types known; type locality: Jeddah , Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.

Bluebarred Parrotfish

Figure 9

Material examined: Underwater photographs; SMF uncatalogued [sample of tissue SOC19-468], initial phase, 48 m SL, Socotra Island, landing site at Hadibo , 19 April 2019 .

Distinctive characters: Body depth 2.4–2.9 in SL; dorsal profile of head of terminal males slightly convex; posterior nostril distinctly larger than anterior nostril, 2–5 times as large as anterior; teeth fully fused to form dental plates, one-half to four-fifths covered by lips; cutting edge of upper dental plate smooth, of lower plate only slightly irregular; upper dental plate usually with 2 conical teeth posteriorly in terminal males and large initial phase; caudal fin lunate in terminal males. Meristic values: Pectoral-fin rays 15; median predorsal scales 6, fourth largest; cheek with 3 scale rows, lower row with 1–2 scales.

Colouration: Initial phase orange-yellow, grading to yellowish or pinkish ventrally, with blue scales dorsally, gradually changing to round blue spot on most scales ventrally; head with a short green stripe at corner of mouth, a short green bar on chin, and a short one posterior to middle of eye. Terminal males green dorsally, the scale edges salmon pink, with a faint, irregular dark blue bar across middle of body; head with an irregular band extending from lower lip ending at preopercular margin and with deep purple spot bordered posteriorly by blue on chin.

Distribution: Red Sea south to South Africa, Madagascar, and the Mascarene Islands, east to south-western Indonesia. Known from the entire Arabian region, from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden (including eastern part), Socotra Archipelago and Oman, to the Arabian /Persian Gulf and Pakistan ( Randall & Bruce 1983; Randall 1995; Buchanan et al. 2015; Psomadakis et al. 2015; Lips et al. 2016).

Remarks: Observed individuals and collected specimens match the description of Scarus ghobban ( Randall & Bruce 1983; Randall 1995), supporting the record of Zajonz et al. (2019). One of the most common species, seen in all islands of the Archipelago and in a wide variety of habitats. Initial phases and terminal males found from south-western to north-eastern parts of Socotra Island on rocky reefs with interspersed sand at depths of 3–15 m; juveniles observed along the south coast in areas with algal growth.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Scarus ghobban. A: initial phase, Di Timri, Socotra Island, 12 m depth; B: initial phase, Di Hamri, Socotra Island, 10 m depth; C: terminal male, Ras Bidou, Socotra Island, 12 m depth.