Scarus trispinosus Valenciennes 1840

Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Santos, Bruna S., Semedo, Thiago B. F., Garcia, Lucas Canes & Moreira, Cristiano Rangel, 2023, The fish collection of José Mariano da Conceição Veloso (1742 - 1811) and the beginning of ichthyological research in Brazil, with a taxonomic description of the extant specimens, Zootaxa 5391 (1), pp. 1-85 : 50

Scarus trispinosus Valenciennes 1840

Extant specimens: MCUC ZOO.0000009 ( Fig. 37a ) and MCUC ZOO.0000055 ( Fig. 37b ).

Classification on the specimen: “P. Th. Labrus rostratus ” (see comments).

Common names on the specimen (Portuguese/Tupi): “Papagayo”/ “Tetimixira”.

Comments: This species was undescribed at the time Veloso prepared it. In both herbarium sheets there is a subsequent reidentification as “ Scarus ferrugineus ”. In the specimen MCUC ZOO.0000009 the new identification is written on the right side of the original classification, while in the specimen MCUC ZOO.0000055 the name “ Labrus ” is strikethrough, and the new identification is written below the original one. In the latter specimen, the areas where the names “ Labrus rostratus ” and “ ferrugineus ” are written are less stained that the remaining herbarium sheet, which would imply that at some point small rectangular pieces of paper were glued over these names with a different classification on them. Interesting to notice that the calligraphy of “ Scarus ferrugineus ” is each specimen and the elongated “s” on the specimen MCUC ZOO.0000009 indicates that the reidentification of this specimen is older. The name “ Labrus rostratus ” was not available then, and its description in the Ichthyologia Fluminensis manuscript, indicates that Veloso intended to name this species. Scarus ferrugineus Forsskål 1775 was a name available by the time the specimens arrived in Portugal, and could have been changed at the Ajuda’s Cabinet, as the handwriting is different from the original name. Scarus ferrugineus occurs in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean and is morphologically distinct from S. trispinosus . “Papagaio” is a name still used for this species as well as other Scarus ’ species. The Ajuda’s inventory ( Ferreira 1794) lists a total of 112 herborized specimens of Labrus , while none is listed in transference to the University of Coimbra. The transference list to the Lisbon Academy of Sciences mentions one specimen L. rostratus , that is missing. Scarus trispinosus occurs in the Southwestern Atlantic from Maranhão to São Paulo ( Brazil) ( Moura et al. 2001). This species is considered a threatened species (IUCN category Endangered; ICMBIO 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 37. Scarus trispinosus Valenciennes 1840; a: MCUC ZOO.0000009, 310 mm SL; b: MCUC ZOO.0000055, 284 mm SL. Photos by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.