Starksia

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 : 29

Starksia sp. Figs 14

Locality:

Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles

Material Examined.

Specimen and photograph: USNM 388032, sta. SABA-06-25, 9.0 mm female (not a DNA voucher), near Coral Garden at SE edge of Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles, 17°21.10'N, 63°15.08'W, 15-18 m, 4 Jan 2006; photograph: 15.1 mm SL female (not a DNA voucher), sta. SABA-06-01, Saba Bank just south of Poison Bank, Netherland Antilles, 17°28.47'N, 63°13.40'W, 24-27 m, 4 Jan 2006 (photographs by Jeffrey T. Williams).

Remarks.

A DNA sequence from a single specimen collected at Saba Bank (Netherland Antilles) is genetically distinct from the other members of the Starksia atlantica species complex (SAB 0601019, Fig. 1). Our material includes color photographs of 9.0- and 15.1-mm SL females and the preserved 9.0 mm specimen (USNM 388032). Presumably the 9.0 and 15.1 mm specimens are the same species as the specimen represented on the tree, but we do not have tissue samples of either for genetic analysis or a preserved voucher of SAB 0601019 for morphological analysis.

Trunk pigment in the images and preserved specimen is similar to that of Starksia atlantica from the Bahamas and Starksia springeri from Curacao (i.e., mottled vs. barred as in Starksia sangreyae ), but the Saba specimens lack the horseshoe-shaped blotch of pigment on the cheek characteristic of Starksia atlantica and the distinctive dark and pale markings on the cheek of Starksia springeri . The blotches of trunk pigment in the Saba Bank specimens are neither conspicuously block-like nor clearly organized in horizontal tiers as they are in Starksia atlantica . Specimens from Saba Bank presumably represent another new species within Starksia atlantica , but additional specimens are needed for comparative purposes and description.