Neoniphon opercularis (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831 )

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 83

Neoniphon opercularis (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831) —Blackfin squirrelfish ( Fig. 28 )

Status at New Ireland. First recorded from Carteret Harbour, New Ireland as Holocentrum operculare by Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1831: 502), based on MNHN material; also reported by Quoy & Gaimard (1834: 676–677, pl. 14, fig. 1). A specimen photographed at Lissenung Island, Kavieng District, 5 m depth, by Dean Tully on 6 July 2011, another at 5 m depth on 16 Sept. 2012.

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 2, 3.—General distribution: East Africa and Réunion east to Line Islands, north to Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia. Found in coral and rocky reefs, 1–25 m depth. Marine.

Figures

FIGURE 28. Neoniphon opercularis (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1831), Lissenung Island, Kavieng District, 5 m depth, 16 Sept. 2012 (underwater photograph: Dean Tully).