Coastal Fishes of Sao Tome and Principe islands, Gulf of Guinea (Eastern Atlantic Ocean) - an update.
Peter Wirtz
Carlos Eduardo L. Ferreira
Sergio R. Floeter
Ronald Fricke
Joao Luiz Gasparini
Tomio Iwamoto
Luiz Rocha
Claudio L. S. Sampaio
Ulrich K. Schliewen
Zootaxa
2007
1523
1
48
7BTG9
Osorio, 1891
Osorio
1891
Osorio
1891
Actinopterygii
Labridae
Thalassoma
Animalia
Perciformes
Chordata
species
newtoni
SMNS 23066 (1 specimen) Sao TomeCity; SMNS 23131 (3 specimens) Rolas Island; SMNS 24878 (20 specimens) Rolas Island. UFES 172 (12 specimens) Praia Quinze, near Lagoa Azul, Sao Tome. For a long time, T. newtoniwas treated as a junior synonym of T. pavo (Linnaeus, 1758). Afonso et al. (1999) also used the name T. pavobut noted that the color pattern of animals from Sao Tomeisland was distinctly different (Figure 14). In a genetic comparison of the Atlantic species of the genus Thalassoma, Costagliola et al. (2004)noted a large genetic divergence between specimens from Sao Tomeand Mediterranean specimens of T. pavo; furthermore, the species T. ascensionisand T. sanctaehelenaewere more closely related to animals from Sao Tomethan these were to T. pavo. Thus, T. newtoniappears to be a valid species but a morphological comparison with T. pavois still outstanding. Juveniles of this species were frequently observed cleaning other fish.