Pristigenys niphonia ( Cuvier 1829 )

Iwatsuki, Yukio, Matsuda, Tsuyoshi, Starnes, Wayne C., Nakabo, Tetsuji & Yoshino, Tetsuo, 2012, A valid priacanthid species, Pristigenys refulgens (Valenciennes 1862), and a redescription of P. niphonia (Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1829) in the Indo-West Pacific (Perciformes: Priacanthidae), Zootaxa 3206, pp. 41-57 : 50-54

Pristigenys niphonia ( Cuvier 1829)

New English Name: Paleband Bigeye Japanese Name: Kurumadai

( Figures 2 B, 3B–D, 5D–F and 6B)

Priacanthus niphonius Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1829:107 (type locality: Japan, probably Nagasaki based on Langsdorf’s collection itinerary, see Remarks); Schlegel in Temminck & Schlegel 1843: 21, pl. 7a (Nagasaki, Japan); Richardson 1846: 238 (Nagasaki, Japan); Günther 1859: 217 ( Japan); Bauchot & Desoutter 1987: 105 ( Japan).

Polyprion japonicus Langsdorf in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1829: 107 (not available, manuscript name mentioned in account of Priacanthus niphonius Cuvier 1829 ).

Pseudopriacanthus niphonius: Bleeker 1869: 241 ( Japan) ; Boulenger 1895: 358 ( Japan and Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia); Jordan et al. 1913; 147 (coast of central & southern Japan); Jordan & Hubbs 1925: 233 (southern Japan); Weber & de Beaufort 1929: 390 (in part, Japan); Fowler 1931: 80 ( Philippines); Mori 1952: 92 (Chinhae, Southern Korea); Herre 1953: 376 (in part; Philippines); Matsubara 1955: 610 ( Japan); Chan 1968: 66 ( Hong Kong).

Pristigenys niphonia ; Yoshino 1975: 208, pl. 40-L (southern Japan); Kyushin et al. 1982: 188 (South China Sea); Gloerfelt- Tarp & Kailola 1984: 143, lowest right unnumbered color figure of p. 142); Sainsbury et al. 1984: 146, unnumbered color photograph in p. 147 (northern Australia); Yoshino 1984: 143 (in part, southern Japan, plate identified as P. refulgens ); Kamohara & Okamura, 1985: 47, pl. 46-230; Heemstra 1986: 546, pl. 47-174.4 (in part, Japan but plate clearly identified as P. refulgens ); Yamada 1986: 150 (East China Sea); Starnes 1988: 140 (in part, Pl. Ib identified as P. refulgens ); Yoshino 1988: 143 (in part, southern Japan); Shen 1993: 307, pl 80-5, 6 ( Taiwan); Hayashi 1993: 654 ( Japan); Yamada & Tagawa 1994: 1 (East China Sea); Yamada 1997: 286 (underwater photos, southern Japan); Starnes 1999: 2601 (in part, Indo-West Pacific); Hayashi 2000; 749 (in part, southern Japan); Shinohara et al. 2001: 323 (Tosa Bay, Japan); Hayashi 2002; 749 (in part, southern Japan); Shinohara et al. 2005: 432 (East China Sea); Paxton et al. 2006: 1119 ( Australia); Yamada et al. 2007: 599, pl. 29-2 ( Japan); Yoshino 2008: 147 (underwater photo., southern Japan).

Pristigenys niphonius: Dor 1984 ; 110 (in part, Japan); Youn 2002: 318, 597 ( South Korea).

Pseudopriacanthus niphonia: Chen et al. 1997: 54 , unnumbered figure color plate (Nansha Islands to South China coastal waters); Machida 1985: 483, 675 (Okinawa Trough).

Neotype: MUFS 36263, 168 mm SL (X), southwestern region of Nagasaki Bay (31°55'N, 128°11'E), Kyushu Island, Japan, trawl, 208 m depth, 10 June 2011, coll. K. Hidaka.

Non-type specimens (A – see footnote of Table 1 ): 63−199 mm SL, n =38. CAS 53444, 134 mm SL (X), Philippines; IOCAS 0 449, 162 mm SL (X), East China Sea; IOCAS 56-7329, 63 mm SL (X), China; IOCAS 66-0069, 136 mm SL (X), East China Sea; MUFS 12171, 12319, 12484, 12651,12652, 12840, 12886, 12958, 12962, 13043, 13379, 13951, 15919, 16063, 16652, 17183, 15 specimens, 92−182 mm SL (X), Meitsu, Nango, Miyazaki, Kyushu Island, Japan; MUFS 14005–14006, 2 specimens, 85–129 mm SL (X), off Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Kyushu Island, Japan; NTM S. 11759-001, 81mm SL (X), East of Dunk Island (17°57'S, 146°58'E), Queensland, Australia, 220 m depth; NTM S. 12903-009, 105 mm SL (X), northern northeast of Cape Don (9°19'S, 133°12'E), Arafura Sea, Northern Territory, Australia, 152 m depth; NTM S. 12926-007, 91 mm SL (X), North of Bathurst Island (10°04'S, 130°32'E), Arafura Sea, Northern Territory, Australia, 155 m depth; NTM S. 13313-004, 103 mm SL (X), Arafura Sea (9°18'S, 133°12'E), Northern Territory, Australia, 153 m depth; URM-P 23020-23021, 33698, 34717 (X), 4 specimens, 167−181 mm SL, slope of East China Sea Shelf; WAM P 25923-003, 199 mm SL (X), off northwestern of Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia, 192 m depth; WAM P 26217-006, 137 mm SL (X), east side (250 km) of Cape Boileau, Western Australia, Australia; ZRC 1000, 4 specimens, 66−102 mm SL (X), off Borneo Island, Malaysia, South China Sea; ZRC 3904, 142 mm SL (X), off Borneo Island, Malaysia, South China Sea; ZRC 46893, 67 mm SL (X), Taiwan.

Non-type specimens (B – see footnote of Table 1 ): 28–187 mm SL, n =54. BSKU 29661, 162 mm SL, East China Sea (25°58'N, 124°24'E); BSKU 32673–32674, 2 specimens, 146‒150 mm SL, East China Sea (25°56'N, 124°21'E); BSKU 34298‒34301, 4 specimens, 125‒153 mm SL, East China Sea (25°58'N, 124°24'E); FAKU 18437‒18439, 3 specimens, 79−101 mm SL (X), Mimase, Kochi, Shikoku Island, Japan; FAKU 18727, 18728, 18731 (X), 3 specimens, 28−53 mm SL, Urado, Kochi, Shikoku Island, Japan; FAKU 23590, 88 mm SL (X), Yawatahama, Ehime, Shikoku Island, Japan; FAKU 26001, 38 mm SL (X), Osaki, Wakayama, Honshu Island, Japan; FAKU 28058, 46 mm SL (X), Kochi, Shikoku Island, Japan; FAKU 34903−34904 (X), 2 specimens, 63−105 mm SL, Yawatahama, Ehime, Shikoku Island, Japan; FAKU 58722–58750, 28 specimens, 138–174 mm SL (X), East China Sea (25°'30'N– 26°00'N, 123°30'E – 124°00'E); FAKU 58767, 88 mm SL (X), off Okinawa, Japan; FAKU 58786, 70 mm SL (X), off Nambu-cho, Wakayama, Honshu Island, Japan; FAKU 100324 – 100327, 4 specimens, 79–117 mm SL (X), Tonkin Bay, Vietnam; FAKU 103682, 105 mm SL (X), East China Sea; HUMZ 87591, 145 mm SL, 147 mm SL, off South China Sea (6°39'N, 115°37'E).

Diagnosis: Distinguished from other species of Pristigenys by the following combination of characters: dorsal fin with ten spines and 11 soft rays; anal fin with three spines and ten soft rays; total gill rakers on first arch 27–31, mode 27 (7–10 on upper limb, 19–22 on lower limb); lateral-line scales 31–39, mode 35 ( Tables 1 –2); body scales above pectoral fin with about 11–60 spinules on posterior margin, the number increasing with growth ( Figure 8 ); caudal fin generally rounded in young, becoming somewhat double emarginate in adults (noticeably in specimens over 150 mm SL; Figures 2 B, 6B); posterior soft portions of vertical fins lacking black margins ( Figures 2 B, 5D– F); five white or pale vertical bands (often indistinct) on body about 1/2–3/5 width of pupil ( Figures 2 B, 3B–D, 6B), expanded ventrally and dorsally with latter angled posterodorsally; very notable in young, less discernible in adults ( Figures 2 B, 3B–D, 6B).

Description: Counts and measurements of the neotype and 92 non-type specimens are given in Table 1 . Characters stated in the diagnosis are not repeated.

Body deep and compressed, especially so up to 160 mm SL, becoming somewhat more elongate in larger specimens, and covered with adherent, spiny scales ( Figure 7 B), on body, interorbital, maxillary, cheeks, and branchiostegals; posterior margins of body scales with sharply pointed spinules, somewhat weak and thin, increasing in number with growth ( Figure 8 ); eyes very large; mouth large, oblique; maxillary expanded distally, reaching to a vertical just posterior to anterior margin of pupil; teeth on jaws villiform in wide bands, outer series on upper jaw somewhat enlarged and slightly long; interorbital space narrow; posterior nostril widely open, triangular in shape; somewhat enlarged branchiostegal membrane scaled; prominent (young) to remnant spine at angle of preopercle; pelvic fin insertion located anterior to pectoral fin base, broadly attached to belly by membrane; innermost ray of pelvic fin broadly connected to belly by membrane; vertebrae 10+13=23.

Fresh color: Based on color photographs of Japanese specimens of MUFS 36263 (neotype), MUFS 12171, 12484, 13043, 13379, 13379, and 22004–22005, Indonesian specimen ( Gloerfelt-Tarp and Kailola 1984: 143, lowest right unnumbered color figure of p. 142), and Australia specimen (Sainsbury et al. 1984: 146, unnumbered color photograph, p. 147). Head and body dense red to blackish red on head, body and fins except black or dusky distal one-third pelvic fins; iris of eye red to silvery; five light bars on head and body, becoming narrower with growth (see Diagnosis); dorsal-fin spines and anterior portions of membranes black or blackish (young) to red (adults). All size ranges of specimens available for examination lack the conspicuous marginal black bands on the soft dorsal, anal, and caudal fins previously described for P. refulgens ; very young juvenile stages were not available in order to determine if these bands are present in those phases and subsequently dissipate with ontogenetic development. Pectoral fin reddish hyaline; distal one-third of pelvic fins black or dusky in young and adult specimens. Smaller specimens with Y-shaped, pale, vertical band on the opercle and nape area ( Figure 3 B) are usually best observed in specimens of approximately 150 mm SL and just after capture or in live specimens in aquaria that have become excited (personal observation, YI).

Color in preserved specimens: H ead and body light yellow or dark tan; 1st–2nd upper dorsal fin spines and lower margin of pelvic fin rays blackish; vertical bands on body often not in evidence.

Distribution: Pristigenys niphonia is generally distributed only in the Western Pacific ( Figure 1). Known from Pacific side of Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu Islands, East China Sea Shelf including slope, Taiwan Channel, South China Sea including Tonkin Bay of Vietnam, Celebes, Arafura Sea of Northern Territory, off Queensland and northwestern Western Australia, plus Bali, Indonesia. Starnes (1988) reported a postlarval specimen (USNM 276112) from Samoa at the edge of the Pacific Plate but only P. meyeri is known from an adult record in that area. Identification of the postlarval P. niphonia was likely definitive based on fin ray counts but it is unknown if later life history phases are occasionally successful in the Samoa area.

Remarks: The holotype of Priacanthus niphonius was acquired by G. H. von Langsdorff during an 1804– 1805 stay in Japan (von Krusenstern 1811–1812, translated from the original German of A. J. von Krusenstern by R. B. Hoppner in 1813). The specimen was presumably collected in Nagasaki, northwestern Kyushu Island, Japan, because the Russian ship (Nadeshda) was forced to stay at Umegasaki in Nagasaki Bay for about six months during those years; von Langsdorff presumably acquired this specimen, together with the other fish-specimens now kept in ZMB, at that time. Subsequently, Cuvier (1829) described the new taxon Priacanthus niphonius based on von Langsdorf’s ZMB specimen, there being records of both loan and return invoices (with Cuvier’s and Valenciennes’ signatures) between MNHN and ZMB (P. Bartsch pers. comm.). However, unfortunately, the holotype is no longer extant as of 2011 and, in fact, could not be accounted for in inventories dating as early as 1900 (P. Bartsch per comm.).

Careful translation of Cuvier’s brief original description of Priacanthus niphonius does not provide definitive characters to clearly distinguish between the two forms treated in this study, though, based on fin-ray counts, it is clearly not assignable to the third known Indo-Pacific species herein previously referred to as Pristigenys meyeri (Günther) . However, there was no mention in the description of black fin margins, which seemingly would have been a salient character not to be overlooked in even a casual description and one which should have persisted reasonably well in preservative pending Cuvier’s examination. This omission, therefore, favors association of his description with the form lacking black fin margins. Further, Priacanthus niphonius was described from“the seas of Japan ” in the area of sympatry for the two forms herein being recognized, niphonia and refulgens . However, the above investigations into the provenance of the type and comparison of the relative distributions of the two forms ( Figure 9 ) may provide further insight into the probable identity of the missing holotype. It has been established (above) that the type for niphonia was very likely from the vicinity of Nagasaki, Japan, on the East China Sea, where the form lacking black fin margins is common. On the other hand, while the black-margined form herein regarded as corresponding to refulgens is common to the south and east in the Ryukyu Islands (northwestern Philippine Sea), there are no records from the northern East China Sea area, despite a great abundance of fish occurrence data. Therefore, based on this circumstantial geographic evidence, Cuvier’s nominal niphonia very likely corresponds to the form lacking black fin margins and having the characters associated with that condition. Despite the inadequacy of Cuvier’s morphological distinctions, then, with this evidence, we choose not to relegate his description to the category of nomen dubium but rather retain the use of the name. As detailed previously, the identity of the form bearing black-margined median fins and associated characters has already been clearly aligned with the extant type of P. refulgens ( Valenciennes 1862) . Starnes (1988), based on limited material available at that time, chose not to distinguish between these two forms and thus did not invoke the Principal of the First Reviser. It follows then, in order to stabilize and affix the long used name niphonius ( Cuvier 1829) , as First Revisers ( ICZN 1999: 24.2.1), we formally associate it with the non black fin-margined form and designate a neotype ( ICZN 1999: 75.1). Information provided in these Remarks and elsewhere generally complies with the particulars of the qualifying conditions for such a designation ( ICZN 1999: 75.3.1–75.3.7). The neotype chosen is a 168 mm SL specimen (MUFS 36263: Figure 2 B) from Nagasaki, Kyushu Island, Japan (type locality).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Color photographs of Pristigensy refulgens (A) and P. niphonia (B). A, MUFS 17997, 213 mm SL (X), off Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Is., Japan; B, MUFS 36263, neotype, 168 mm SL, southwestern region of Nagasaki Bay (31 ° 55 ' N, 128 ° 11 ' E), Kyushu Island, Japan, coll. K. Hidaka.

FIGURE 3. Color photographs of Pristigensy refulgens (A) from Red Sea and P. niphonia (B – D) from western Pacific. A), collected from southern Red Sea, probably 60 – 80 mm SL, photographed by H. Fricke on submarine; B), Osesaki, western Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka, Suruga Bay, Southern Japan, ca. 100 mm SL, photographed by S. Ueshima at a depth of ca. 10 m; C), collected northwestern Australia, CSIRO B 2174, ca. 60 mm SL; D), collected from Australia, CSIRO CA 410 (Sainsbury et al. 1985), 180 mm in total length.

FIGURE 7. Spinules of lateral body scales. A, Pristigenys refulgens, URM-P 34754, 197 mm SL, off Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Islands, Japan; B, P. niphonia, URM-P 33698, 192 mm SL, East China Sea.

FIGURE 8. Relationship between the number of spinules on the body scales (Fig. 1) and standard length in Pristigenys refulgens (triangles) and P. niphonia (squares).

FIGURE 9. Distribution of Pristigenys refulgens and P. niphonia in the Indo-West Pacific. Dark symbols are based on specimens examined in this study, open symbols on references and / or photographs.