Review of theAcanthopagrus latuscomplex (Perciformes: Sparidae) with descriptions of three new species from the Indo‐West Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Acanthopagrus latus, long considered a single valid Indo-West Pacific Ocean species, characterized by having yellow pelvic, anal and caudal fins, is reviewed and separated into A. latus (east Asian shelf) and Acanthopagrus longispinnis (Bengal Bay), and three new species: Acanthopagrus morrisoni sp. nov. (north-western Australia), Acanthopagrus arabicus sp. nov. [Middle East (except for the Red Sea) to coasts of Iran and Pakistan, and western Indian coast] and Acanthopagrus sheim sp. nov. (The Gulf). Although A. latus as redefined considerably varies in morphology and colouration, it can be recognized as a discrete east Asian endemic, with the following nominal species being junior synonyms: Chrysophrys auripes, Chrysophrys xanthopoda, Chrysophrys rubroptera and Sparus chrysopterus. Chrysophrys novaecaledoniae, known only from the holotype (type locality: Nouméa, New Caledonia), is a questionable junior synonym of A. latus, the lack of subsequent collections suggesting that the type locality is erroneous. Acanthopagrus longispinnis is differentiated from the other species in the complex by consistently having 12 dorsal-fin spines and a much larger second anal-fin spine, 21-26% (mean 23%) of standard length (LS ) (v. 14-24%, mean 18-21% in the other four species). Acanthopagrus morrisoni sp. nov. has the entire caudal fin yellow with a wide black posterior margin (persisting in preserved specimens) and consistently 3 ½ scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine base and the lateral line. Acanthopagrus sheim sp. nov. has the pelvic, anal and lower caudal fins vivid yellow, with two (rarely three) small black blotches on the lower inter-radial membranes between the spinous and soft dorsal-fin rays. Acanthopagrus arabicus sp. nov. consistently has 4 ½ scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine base and the lateral line, whereas A. latus always has black streaks proximally on the inter-radial membranes between the yellow anal-fin rays. A neotype and lectotye, respectively, are designated for A. latus and A. longispinnis. The p-distance (net nucleotide substitutions per site) of partial mitochondrial 16s ribosomal RNA genes (538 bp) among the above species (except A. longispinnis) and three other congeners (Acanthopagrus berda, Acanthopagrus pacificus and Acanthopagrus bifasciatus) strongly indicates that each is a distinct species. A key is provided for the 20 species of Acanthopagrus currently known from the Indo-West Pacific Ocean.

Consideration of Blood Serum Biochemical Parameters of Yellow Fin Sea Bream (<i>Acantopagrus latus</i> Houttuyn, 1782) and Orange-Spotted Grouper (<i>Epinephelus coioides</i> Hamilton, 1822)

“…The wild populations of A. latus and E. coioides have almost collapsed in recent years to intensive fishing and water pollution, prompting the development of aquaculture facilities for the commercial culture of these species [11]- [14]. A rearing system for the maximization of fish productivity is the aim of fishery management programmers, and an evaluation of the physiological status of the fish during rearing is necessary to achieve this.…”

“…Yellow fin sea bream (Acantopagrus latus Houttuyn, 1782) and Orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides Hamilton, 1822) are protandrous and protogeny hermaphroditic from family percidae and serranidae respectively and being distributed off southern Japan, southeastern China, Taiwan, southeastern Asia, Persian Gulf and Australia and in the Indian Ocean to southeastern Africa [11]- [14]. They are considered to be two of the most commercially important marine fish in Iran, due to their consumer preference and are newly successful cultured in the coastal area of Iran.…”

Taxonomy and systematics of larval Indo-Pacific fishes: a review of progress since 1981

“…However, it is likely that this percentage has decreased, as 13 new sparid species have been recognized in the past decade, particularly in the genus Acanthopagrus (e.g. Iwatsuki and Heemstra 2010;Iwatsuki 2013), whereas a similar effort has not been put into description of sparid larvae over the same period.…”

Molecular identification of Bigeyes (Perciformes, Priacanthidae) from Indian waters

“…Six species of priacanthids from the Indian waters were found genetically distinct from each other and portioned into three groups without any haplotype sharing. Lakra et al, (2009) reported high nucleotide divergence among the sciaenids species in the Indian waters using 16S rRNA gene sequences and Iwatsuki (2013) shows similar results in Acanthopagrus latus, indicating the effectiveness of 16S rRNA gene sequence for accurate identification of species. The high degree of K2P nucleotide divergence with 16S rRNA gene (interspecies 0.008-0.157), indicated its ability to adequately describe interrelationships of priacanthid species.…”

“…Mitochondrial DNA genes have been extensively used in fish phylogenetics, since they are highly conserved compared to nuclear DNA, resulting in the accumulation of differences between species (Timm et al, 2008). The 16S rRNA and COI genes have been useful in resolving taxonomic ambiguities, resurrecting species, and identifying market mislabeling in fishes (Iwatsuki, 2013;Keskin & Atar, 2012;Ward et al, 2005).…”