Sacura sanguinea Motomura, Yoshida & Vilasri

Gill, Anthony C. & Psomadakis, Peter N., 2018, Pseudanthias emma new species, with notes on a collection of anthiadine serranid fishes from off Myanmar (eastern Indian Ocean), Zootaxa 4455 (3), pp. 525-536 : 534

Sacura sanguinea Motomura, Yoshida & Vilasri

Figure 8

Sacura sanguinea Motomura, Yoshida & Vilasri, 2017: 291 , figs 1–2 (type locality: Andaman Sea , Thailand).

Motomura et al. (2017) described Sacura sanguinea from three specimens purchased at Pak Nam Ranong Fishing Port, Ranong Province, Thailand. The specimens apparently had been trawled from the Andaman Sea, but details on habitat, depth and precise locality are lacking. A single individual of the species was collected during the 2013 cruise, and photographed but not retained ( Figure 8 ). The specimen, 95 mm TL was trawled on the 24 November 2013 off the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar, Andaman Sea (14°9.57’ N, 94°23.97’ E) at a depth of 124 m. Photographs of the specimen agree well with Motomura et al. ’s figure 2 of the female paratype of S. sanguinea , particularly in having: a large dark red spot on the dorsal fin between the sixth and tenth spines; a broad yellow stripe from behind the head, this becoming indistinct and red on the middle of the body and extending to the caudal-fin base; and a yellow caudal fin with bright red spots on the central portion of the fin. These coloration characters are sufficient to distinguish S. sanguinea from other members of the genus (see Heemstra & Randall 1979). The photographs also show a series of small dark spots behind and beneath the third through tenth dorsal spine bases. These are also apparent in Motumura et al. ’s fig. 2, though very indistinct. Also apparent on the photo are the following: dorsal rays X,15, second and third segmented rays produced as filaments; fourth dorsal spine slightly longer than third, fifth through tenth spines sequentially shorter; anal rays III,7, all segmented rays branched; pectoral rays 17; lateral line with ca 33 tubed scales. In the three type specimens of S. sanguinea (which measure 111–124 mm SL), the third dorsal spine is elongate and much longer than the other dorsal spines. The lack of elongation of the third dorsal spine in the Myanmar individual is most likely due to ontogenetic variation, given its smaller size.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Sacura sanguinea, 95 mm TL, off the Ayeyawady Delta, Myanmar, Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean, specimen not retained. Photo by Oddgeir Alvheim.