Chromis bowesi, Gabriela Arango, B., T. Pinheiro, Hudson, Rocha, Claudia, D. Greene, Brian, L. Pyle, Richard, M. Copus, Joshua, Shepherd, Bart & A. Rocha, Luiz, 2019

Gabriela Arango, B., T. Pinheiro, Hudson, Rocha, Claudia, D. Greene, Brian, L. Pyle, Richard, M. Copus, Joshua, Shepherd, Bart & A. Rocha, Luiz, 2019, Three new species of Chromis (Teleostei, Pomacentridae) from mesophotic coral ecosystems of the Philippines, ZooKeys 835, pp. 1-15 : 7-8

Chromis bowesi sp. n. Figure 3 a–c, Table 1

Type material.

Holotype: PNM 15359 (field code: LAR 1851). 82.1 mm SL, GenBank MH170477, Dive and Trek, Batangas, Philippines. 13°48'3.52"N, 120°54'38.88"E, 120 m, RL Pyle and BD Greene, 12 December 2013 (Figure 3 a–c). Paratypes: BPBM 41350 (field code: LAR 1852), 77.5 mm SL, GenBank MH170478, Dive and Trek, Batangas, Philippines. 13°48'3.52"N, 120°54'38.88"E, 120 m, RL Pyle and BD Greene, 12 December 2013. USNM 440406 (field code: LAR 1869), 78.3 mm SL, GenBank MH170479, Dive and Treck, Batangas, Philippines. 13°48'3.52"N, 120°54'38.88"E, 120 m, RL Pyle and BD Greene, 14 December 2013. CAS 242324 (field code: HTP 511), 66.0 mm SL, Puerto Galera Bay, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. 13°31'339"N, 120°960'E, 105 m, LA Rocha, HT Pinheiro, B Shepherd, E Jessup, and BD Greene, 9 April 2015. CAS 242278 (field code: HTP 524), 77.5 mm SL, Verde Island, Batangas, Philippines. 13°31'941"N, 121°06'196"E, 110 m, LA Rocha, HT Pinheiro, E Jessup, and BD Greene, 12 April 2015.

Diagnosis.

The following combination of characters distinguishes Chromis bowesi sp. n. from all of its congeners: dorsal-fin rays XIII,11-12; anal-fin rays II,11-13; pectoral-fin rays 17-19; procurrent caudal-fin rays 3; tubed lateral-line scales 13-15; gill rakers 6 –9+18– 19 (total 25-27); body depth 1.5-1.6 in SL; color of adults when fresh brownish grey in the dorsal side to whitish on the ventral side, with alternating dark and light stripes in the sides of body.

Description.

Dorsal-fin rays XIII, 12 (two paratypes XIII, 11); anal-fin rays II,12 (one paratype II,11 and two paratypes II,13); all dorsal and anal-fin rays branched, the last to base in some specimens; pectoral-fin rays 18 (one paratype 17 and other 19), the upper and lowermost unbranched; pelvic-fin rays I,5; principal caudal-fin rays 8+7=15 (one paratype 7+6=13 and other 7+7=14); upper and lower procurrent caudal-fin rays 3; upper and lower rudimentary (spiniform) caudal-fin rays 2 and 3 respectively (three paratypes 2 and 2 and one 3 and 2); tubed lateral-line scales 14|14 (other paratypes 13|13, 13|14 and 14|15); posterior midlateral scales with a pore 8 |8 (three paratypes 7|7 and one 7|8); scales above dorsal fin to origin of dorsal fin 3|3 (one paratype 2|2); scales below lateral line to origin of anal fin 8|8; circumpeduncular scales 12 (12); gill rakers from two paratypes 9+18=27 and 6+19=25; vertebrae 26 (11 precaudal + 15 caudal).

Body depth 1.5 (paratypes 1.5-1.6) in SL, and width 3.5 (3.2-3.4) in body depth; head length 3.3 (2.7-3.3) in SL; dorsal profile of head with slight convexity anterior to eye, slight concavity dorsal to eye, and slight convexity on nape; snout very short, length 7.5 (5.1-7.9) in head length; orbit diameter 2.6 (2.4-2.9) in head length; interorbital width 2.4 (2.4-3.1) in head length; caudal-peduncle depth 1.9 (1.9-2.2) in head length; caudal-peduncle length 2.9 (2.9-3.9) in head length.

Mouth terminal, small, oblique, upper jaw forming an angle of 50°; maxilla posterior edge beyond anterior edge of orbit, upper jaw length 3.1 (3.2-3.6) in head length; teeth multi-serial, outer row of conical teeth in each jaw, largest anteriorly; narrow band of villiform teeth lingual to outer row, in two irregular rows anteriorly, narrowing to a single row on side of jaws; tongue oblong with rounded tip; gill rakers long and slender, longest on lower limb near angle about the same length of longest gill filaments; nostril with fleshy elevated rim, located above level of middle of pupil.

Opercle ending posteriorly in flat spine, tip relatively obtuse and obscured by large scale; preopercle margin smooth, posterior margin extending dorsally to level of upper edge of pupil; suborbital with free lower margin extending nearly to a vertical at posterior edge of pupil. Ctenoid scales; anterior lateral line ending beneath rear portion of spinous dorsal fin (between 10th and 11th dorsal-fin spines); head scaled except lips, tip of snout, and a narrow zone from orbit to edge of snout containing nostrils; narrow scaly sheath at base of dorsal and anal fins, about two-thirds pupil diameter at base of middle of spinous portion of dorsal fin, progressively narrower on soft portion; two columns of scales on each membrane of dorsal fin, narrowing distally, those on spinous portion of dorsal progressively longer, reaching about two-thirds distance to spine tips on posterior membranes; scales on anal-fin membrane in two columns, progressively smaller distally; small scales on caudal fin extending slightly more than one-third distance to posterior margin; small scales on basal one-fifth of pectoral fins; median scaly process extending posteriorly from between base of pelvic fins, its length about half that of pelvic-fin spine; axillary scale above base of pelvic-fin spine large, slightly more than two-thirds length of spine.

Color.

Within its natural habitat, Chromis bowesi sp. n. has purplish blue body, with distinctive vertical faint light blue bar just behind pectoral fin. Spinous dorsal and pelvic fins light blue to white; soft dorsal translucent. Specimens photographed shortly after death (Figure 3a) are dark grayish brown dorsally, fading to light silvery white ventrally. Transition from dorsal to ventral sides marked by alternating indistinct light and dark stripes. Ventral portion of head below center of eye silvery white. Black blotch on upper base of pectoral fin. Spinous dorsal fin membranes brown with dark outer margin; proximal one-fourth of soft dorsal fin brown, distal three-fourths translucent with brown rays; anal fin dark brown with transverse lighter line located three-fourths to the edge of fin. Caudal fin same color and pattern as anal fin. Pelvic fin mostly whitish gray with light brown at base and distal end of fin. Color in alcohol similar to fresh color, except darker brown (Figure 3b).

Etymology.

In honor of the late William K Bowes Jr, lead donor of the Hope for Reefs initiative from the California Academy of Sciences, we name Chromis bowesi sp. n. A pioneering venture capitalist and visionary Bay Area philanthropist, Bill Bowes was devoted to advancing science and generously supported groundbreaking research spanning across biotech, medical, and other scientific disciplines. The name is a noun in the genitive case.

Distribution and habitat.

Chromis bowesi sp. n. was found in many localities of the Verde Island Passage, such as in Verde Island, Puerto Galera Bay, and Batangas Bay. The five specimens were recorded over low to moderate complexity habitats between 80 and 120 m depth. Specimens identified as Chromis earina were collected by Nishiyama et al. (2012) in Iou-jima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, between 70 and 80 m depth, but their mtDNA COI sequence and color description match Chromis bowesi , therefore this species is distributed at least to southern Japan. We also sequenced the holotype of Chromis earina and its sequence is clearly distinct from C. bowesi .