Upeneus itoui, Yamashita, Masahiro, Golani, Daniel & Motomura, Hiroyuki, 2011

Yamashita, Masahiro, Golani, Daniel & Motomura, Hiroyuki, 2011, A new species of Upeneus (Perciformes: Mullidae) from southern Japan, Zootaxa 3107, pp. 47-58 : 48-56

Upeneus itoui n. sp.

(Figs. 165; Tables 1–2)

Holotype. NSMT-P 102554 (ex. KAUM –I. 21091), 122.9 mm SL, east of Sakinoyama, Kataura, Kasasa, Minamisatsuma, Kagoshima, Japan, 31°25ʹ44ʺN, 130°11ʹ49ʺE, 27 June 2009, set net, 27 m, M. Itou.

Paratypes. 53 specimens (85.5–143.8 mm SL) from southern Japan. West coast of Kagoshima Pref. (East China Sea): the following specimens have the same data as the holotype, except for collection dates – KAUM – I. 44, 111.7 mm SL, 15 Apr. 2006; KAUM –I. 422, 119.3 mm SL, KAUM –I. 423, 114.2 mm SL, date unknown; KAUM –I. 7276, 140.5 mm SL, 21 Nov. 2007; AMS I. 45460-001 (ex. KAUM –I. 10251), 127.9 mm SL, CSIRO H 7133-01 (ex. KAUM –I. 10252), 113.9 mm SL, KAUM –I. 8724, 112.6 mm SL, KAUM –I. 10255, 116.8 mm SL, KAUM –I. 10256, 119.6 mm SL, KAUM –I. 10257, 104.2 mm SL, MNHN 2010-1050 (ex. KAUM –I. 10253), 113.7 mm SL, USNM 399269 (ex. KAUM –I. 10254), 131.9 mm SL, 19 Feb. 2007; KAUM –I. 9303, 120.5 mm SL, 24 Nov. 2007; KAUM –I. 10384, 85.5 mm SL, 14 Apr. 2008; KAUM –I. 11891, 106.5 mm SL, 5 July 2008, KAUM –I. 13265, 116.8 mm SL, 20 Dec. 2008; KAUM –I. 13595, 114.9 mm SL, 27 Nov. 2008; KAUM –I. 17596, 124.5 mm SL, KAUM –I. 17597, 105.7 mm SL, 16 Mar. 2009; KAUM –I. 17747, 92.9 mm SL, 3 Apr. 2008; KAUM –I. 20384, 122.6 mm SL, 3 Nov. 2008; KAUM –I. 25859, 92.0 mm SL, 16 May 2009; KAUM –I. 28790, 121.3 mm SL, 16 May 2010. KAUM –I. 7282, 133.4 mm SL, KAUM –I. 7283, 121.7 mm SL, northeast of Matsushima Island, Kasasa, Minamisatsuma, 31°25ʹ0 6ʺN, 130°12ʹ32ʺE, 10 Nov. 2008, set net, 20 m, M. Itou; KAUM –I. 12843, 114.8 mm SL, same data as KAUM –I. 7282, except date, 13 Oct. 2008; KAUM –I. 13594, 114.8 mm SL, off Takasaki-yama, Kataura, Kasasa, Minamisatsuma, 31°26ʹ0 0ʺN, 130°10ʹ0 5ʺE, 11 Dec. 2008, set net, 36 m, M. Itou. Kagoshima Bay: KAUM –I. 17714, 119.6 mm SL, off Chiringa-jima Island, Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Japan, 31°16ʹ38ʺN, 130°40ʹ18ʺE, set net, 25 m, 1 Apr. 2009, Orita Fishery; data for the following specimens as 1 km southwest off Kawajiri Fishing Port, Kaimonkawajiri, Ibusuki, 31°10ʹN, 130°32ʹE, set net, 40 m, G. Ogihara and T. Yoshida — KAUM –I. 9211, 120.4 mm SL, 9 Apr. 2008, KAUM –I. 13715, 133.6 mm SL, KAUM –I. 13716, 114.8 mm SL, KAUM –I. 13717, 108.6 mm SL, 21 Jan. 2009; KAUM –I. 14662, 107.5 mm SL, KAUM –I. 14663, 86.2 mm SL, KAUM –I. 14664, 117.9 mm SL, KAUM –I. 14665, 89.6 mm SL, 18 Feb. 2009; KAUM –I. 18955, 104.2 mm SL, 15 Apr. 2009; KAUM –I. 22651, 117.7 mm SL, 11 Nov. 2009; KAUM –I. 27550, 106.8 mm SL, 10 Mar. 2010; KAUM –I. 27634, 114.2 mm SL, KAUM –I. 27635, 135.3 mm SL, 17 Mar. 2010; KAUM –I. 13590, 118.9 mm SL, KAUM –I. 13591, 104.5 mm SL, KAUM –I. 13592, 119.0 mm SL, KAUM –I. 13593, 118.5 mm SL, 21 Nov. 2008; KAUM –I. 19890, 143.8 mm SL, 15 Oct. 2008, staff of Kagoshima Aquarium; KAUM –I. 20577, 116.7 mm SL, KAUM –I. 20578, 107.4 mm SL, 20 Nov. 2008. East coast of Kagoshima Pref. (Pacific Ocean): KAUM –I. 477, 131.3 mm SL, KAUM –I. 478, 125.1 mm SL, Kimotsuki, Uchinoura Bay, 31°20ʹN, 130°04ʹE, 24 Feb. 2006, set net, 40 m, K. Nakahata. Miyazaki Pref. (Pacific Ocean): MUFS 26238, 91.4 mm SL, Iorigawa, Kadogawa, Higashiusu, 29 Sep. 2008; MUFS 27037, 100.0 mm SL, Kushima, 15 Nov. 2008; MUFS 28227, 118.0 mm SL, Meitsu, Nango, 21 Mar. 2009.

Non-type specimens. 13 specimens (93.3–115.0 mm SL) from Okinawa-jima Island, Japan: URM-P 8180, 103.0 mm SL, URM-P 8181, 113.9 mm SL, URM-P 8182, 95.2 mm SL, URM-P 8183, 93.3 mm SL, Chinen Fish Market, Chinen, 9 Sept. 1983; URM-P 8264, 108.6 mm SL, URM-P 8265, 115.0 mm SL, URM-P 8266, 110.4 mm SL, URM-P 8267, 104.5 mm SL, URM-P 8268, 96.3 mm SL, URM-P 8269, 110.4 mm SL, URM-P 8270, 108.3 mm SL, URM-P 8271, 100.4 mm SL, URM-P 8272, 108.4 mm SL, Chinen Fish Market, Chinen, 14 Sept. 1983.

Diagnosis. A species of Upeneus with the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays VII + 9, first dorsal-fin spine longest; pectoral-fin rays 13–15 (usually 14); gill rakers 6 or 7 (mode 6) + 16–18 (17) = 22–25 (23); pored lateral-line scales 28–30 (29); no teeth on ectopterygoids; maximum body depth 20.9–24.7% SL (mean 22.7%); maximum head depth 18.0–20.6% SL (19.2%); barbel width 6.0–7.8% HL (7.0%); barbels white; a distinct reddish brown stripe from tip of snout to caudal-fin base through eye in life and fresh specimens; first dorsal fin with 4 irregular white bands in life, 4–6 irregular reddish brown bands (retained as dark bands in preserved specimens) and 4–6 white bands in fresh specimens; upper caudal-fin lobe pale white with 5–7 reddish brown bands (retained as dark bands in preserved specimens) and 5–9 irregular pure white bands in life and fresh specimens; lower caudal-fin lobe reddish with 5–9 short red bands (retained as dark bands in preserved specimens) and 5–9 short white bands or spots along ventral margin in life and fresh specimens.

Description. Counts and measurements, expressed as percentages of SL, are given in Table 1. Frequency distribution of the gill-raker counts are given in Table 2. Data for the holotype are presented first, followed by paratype data in parentheses. Osteological characters are based on 7 paratypes.

Upper limb Lower limb Total

6 7 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

U. itoui n. sp. 37 28H 12 48H 5 8 33 22H 2 U. pori 29 13 4 27 8 3 2 22 11 7

H Includes count of holotype.

First dorsal-fin spine longest; first dorsal-fin soft ray unbranched, remaining soft rays branched. Anal-fin spine extremely short; first anal-fin soft ray unbranched and spinous, segmented in outer half. Mouth small, ventral and oblique; posterior margin of maxilla reaching (or just short of) a vertical through anterior margin of orbit; posterior margin of maxilla membranous and convex; upper-jaw length less than half head length. A band of small nodular teeth in each jaw, about 3 (1–3) rows of teeth at front, 5 (2–5) rows in middle, becoming a single row posteriorly. Vomer with a V-shaped band of villiform teeth, 2 (or 1) rows of teeth at front, 3 (or 2) rows in middle, becoming 1 (or 2) row(s) posteriorly. Palatines with a band of villiform teeth. No teeth on ectopterygoids. Tongue triangular and fused to floor of mouth. Barbels reaching a vertical through preopercular margin. Anterior nostril a short vertically oval opening, anterior to middle of eye; posterior nostril a curved vertical slit, anterior to eye at level of middle of pupil horizontally. Length of longest gill raker on first gill arch subequal to that of longest gill filaments. Opercular spine at level of middle of eye, spine tip reaching (or just short of) opercular margin. Scales finely ctenoid; body scales not extending onto bases of fins, except for second dorsal-fin, anal-fin and caudal-fin bases. First dorsal-fin origin above fourth pored lateral-line scale. Second dorsal-fin origin anterior to anal-fin origin. Posterior tip of depressed pelvic fin extending slightly beyond a vertical through pectoral-fin tip, but not reaching to anus. Formula for configuration of supraneural bones, anterior neural spines, and anterior dorsal pterygiophores 0/ 0/0+1/1+1/1/1/1/1/ or 0/0/0+1/1/1+1/1/1/1/. Vertebrae 10 + 14. Upper series of procurrent caudal-fin rays 8 or 9, lower series 6–9; principal caudal-fin rays 8 + 7. Swimbladder present.

Color in life [based on aquarium photographs of KAUM–I. 28790 ( Fig. 2 d) and underwater photographs ( Figs. 2 a–c)]: Head and body grayish dorsally, whitish ventrally; a distinct reddish brown stripe from tip of snout to caudal-fin base through eye. Each scale on dorsal body, above the reddish brown stripe, with blackish posterior margin. No vertical red bar below eye. Barbel white. Dorsal fins semitransparent with white spots, forming 4 irregular white bands on each fin; no blackish blotch on tip of the fins. Pectoral fin transparent, without spots or blotches. Pelvic and anal fins semitransparent with whitish margins. Upper caudal-fin lobe semitransparent, with 5 or 6 dark brown or reddish brown cross bands and irregular whitish bands. Lower caudal-fin lobe reddish brown medially with white bar or spots in a row along fin margin.

Color when fresh (based on color photographs of 44 type specimens, 5 of which were reproduced in Figs. 1 a, 3): Head and body yellowish-brown to reddish brown dorsally; lower lateral surface of body, below the reddish longitudinal stripe, with poorly defined, large, reddish blotches (or lower lateral surface becoming uniformly reddish in some paratypes; such reddish coloration may be caused by stress when captured). A distinct longitudinal, reddish-brown stripe, its width subequal to pupil diameter, from tip of snout to caudal-fin base through eye. Barbels white. First dorsal fin with 5 (4–6 in paratypes) reddish brown bands and 5 (4–6) irregular white bands. Second dorsal fin with 4 (or 5) reddish brown bands and 4 (or 5) irregular white bands. Pectoral fin semitransparent. Pelvic fin yellowish white (or white). Anal fin white. Upper caudal-fin lobe pale white, with 6 (5–7) reddish brown bands and 5 (4–6) irregular pure white bands. Lower caudal-fin lobe reddish, with 8 (5–9) short, reddish bands, and 8 (5– 9) short, white bands (or spots) along ventral margin; white spots along posterior margin of lower lobe. Fresh color variations are given in Fig. 3 .

Color of preserved specimens ( Fig. 1 b): Head and body dark brown dorsally, pale yellow ventrally, without a longitudinal stripe. Barbels pale. First dorsal fin with 5 (4–6) grayish bands. Second dorsal fin with 4 (or 5) grayish bands. Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins whitish, without melanophores. Upper caudal-fin lobe with 6 (5–7) grayish bands; lower lobe with 7 (5–9) grayish bands.

Distribution. Currently known only from southern Japan, including Okinawa-jima Island in the Ryukyu Islands, and Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Kochi, and Ehime Prefectures. The last locality was based on underwater photographs reported as “ Mullidae , indet. Gen. and sp. 1” by Takagi et al. (2010: 65). It occurs on sandy bottoms in depths of 4–40 m, based on underwater photographs and collected specimen data.

Etymology. Named for Mr. Masahide Itou who collected almost all Kagoshima specimens of the new species and kindly made them available to the authors. Sakuya-himeji and Oriental Goatfish are herein proposed as the standard Japanese and English names, respectively, for the species.

Remarks. The genus Upeneus is divided into two species groups based on the number of first dorsal-fin spines, i.e., seven or eight spines ( Lachner 1954; Kim & Nakaya 2002). Uiblein & Heemstra (2010) further divided the eight-spine group into three species groups. Upeneus itoui n. sp. belongs to the seven-spine group, which also contains U. asymmetricus Lachner, 1954 , U. australiae Kim & Nakaya 2002 , U. francisi Randall & Guézé, 1992 , U. guttatus ( Day, 1868) , U. japonicus ( Houttuyn, 1782) , and U. pori Ben-Tuvia & Golani, 1989 . Although Lachner (1954), Randall & Guézé (1992) and Uiblein & Heemstra (2010) included U. parvus Poey, 1852 in the seven-spine group, Kim & Nakaya (2002) regarded the species as a member of the eight-spine group based on radiographic examination.

Upeneus itoui can be easily distinguished from U. guttatus and U. japonicus by lacking teeth on the ectopterygoids ( Kim & Nakaya 2002; this study). The new species differs from U. asymmetricus and U. francisi in having a lower number of total gill rakers [22–25 vs. 28–29 in U. asymmetricus and 30–33 in U. francisi ; based on Lachner (1954) and Randall & Guézé (1992) respectively]. In addition, U. itoui and U. asymmetricus can be separated by coloration. The latter has a dark brown saddle-like spot on the caudal peduncle just posterior to the second dorsal fin (vs. spot absent in U. itoui ) and three dark bands on the caudal-fin upper lobe (vs. 5–7 bands) (data for U. asymmetricus from Randall 2001). Although most meristic characters of U. itoui agreed with those of an Australian species, U. australiae , the former differs in having 5–9 narrow grayish bands on the lower caudal-fin lobe, narrower than bands on the upper lobe, in preserved specimens [ Fig. 1 b: vs. 6 broad black bands, widths more than twice of those of bands on the upper lobe, and posterior bands (fifth and sixth bands) forming subcircular blotches in U. australiae ; Kim & Nakaya 2002: fig. 3A].

Upeneus itoui is most similar to a western Indian Ocean species, U. pori , in overall body appearance and fin coloration, and the two allopatric species are difficult to distinguish from each other at a glance. However, the body of U. itoui tends to be shallower than that of U. pori [body depth 20.9–24.7% of SL (mean 22.7%) vs. 21.1–25.2% (23.5%) in U. pori , Fig. 4 , Table 1; head depth 18.0–20.6% of SL (mean 19.2%) vs. 18.4–21.7% (20.0%), Table 1]. The barbel width at its base of U. itoui also tends to be narrower than that of U. pori ( Fig. 5 ). Although the barbel width of the two species when young mostly overlapped [6.0–7.8% of HL (mean 7.0%) in U. itoui vs. 6.4–9.7% (7.7%) in U. pori ], it became distinct with growth [in over 110 mm SL specimens, 6.0–7.8% of HL (mean 7.0%) in U. itoui vs. 7.4–9.7% (8.3%) in U. pori ; also see Fig. 5 ].

The number of gill rakers also distinguishes U. itoui (6–7 on upper limb, 16–18 on lower limb, 22–25 in total) from U. pori (7–8, 18–20, 25–27, respectively; Tables 1–2). Although the number of gill rakers of the two species overlaps in 25, specimens with 25 rakers of the two species can be easily separated by the above mentioned morphometrics ( Fig. 6 ).

In addition, underwater photographs show that U. pori usually has a vertical, broad, dark brown or red bar (its width wider than pupil diameter) from the eye to the ventral margin of the head between the posterior margin of the upper jaw and preopercle (see Ben-Tuvia & Golani 1989: fig. 2; Randall 1995: fig. 634), whereas such a bar has not been observed in U. itoui ( Fig. 2 ). Preliminary results of mitochondrial DNA analysis of U. itoui from Kagoshima and U. pori from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean (the latter species is a Lessepsian migrant, a colonizer of the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal) reveal a small although constant divergence between the two species (Shirak et al., in prep.).

Underwater photographs of U. itoui reported by Takagi et al. (2010: 65; reproduced here as Fig. 2 c) indicated that U. itoui formed a school with U. tragula Richardson, 1846 . Most specimens of U. itoui from Kagoshima were also collected with U. tragula . Although the two species are similar to each other when alive, U. itoui can be easily distinguished from U. tragula by having white barbels (vs. yellow in the latter) and lacking a blotch on the tip of the first dorsal fin (vs. large, dark red blotch present) ( Fig. 2 c).

Specimens of U. itoui from Okinawa-jima Island (13 specimens, 93.3–115.0 mm SL) were excluded from the type series of the new species. Although we regard the Okinawa specimens as conspecific with the type specimens of U. itoui from Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures, no color photographs of the Okinawa specimens when fresh or alive were available and we could not confirm the specimens’ indisputable identifications.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Upeneus itoui n. sp. (NSMT-P 102554, 122.9 mm SL, Kagoshima, Japan). a, fresh specimen. b, preserved specimen.

FIGURE 2. Underwater photographs of Upeneus itoui n. sp. a – b, Approximately 15 cm TL, Morode Beach, Ainan, Ehime, Japan, 33 ° 00 ˏ 15 ʺN, 132 ° 30 ˏ 22 ʺE, 4 – 5 m depth, 19 Oct. 1999 (photos by J. Shibata). c, Approximately 4 cm TL, Morode Beach, 6 m depth, 13 Nov. 1999 (photo by T. Hirata); U. itoui is the individual in center of the photo, other individuals are U. tragula. d, Aquarium photograph of KAUM – I. 28790, paratype, 121.3 mm SL, Kagoshima, Japan, just after capture.

FIGURE 3. Variations of body and fin fresh coloration of Upeneus itoui n. sp. a, KAUM – I. 17714, paratype, 119.6 mm SL. b, KAUM – I. 477, paratype, 131.3 mm SL. c, KAUM – I. 13595, paratype, 114.9 mm SL. d, KAUM – I. 11891, paratype, 106.5 mm SL.

FIGURE 4. Relationships of maximum body depth to standard length in Upeneus itoui n. sp. [open symbols (star = holotype)] and U. pori (closed triangles).

FIGURE 5. Relationships of barbel width to standard length (a) and barbel length (b) in Upeneus itoui n. sp. [open symbols (star = holotype)] and U. pori (closed triangles).

FIGURE 6. Relationships of maximum body depth plus barbel width (% of standard length) to number of gill rakers in Upeneus itoui n. sp. [open symbols (star = holotype)] and U. pori (closed triangles).