Biogeography 15.
49–54．Aug. 20, 2013

New Records of a Scorpionfish, Parapterois macrura (Scorpaenidae:
Pteroinae), from Oman and Somalia, Western Arabian Sea
Mizuki Matsunuma1*, Laith A. Jawad2 and Hiroyuki Motomura3
1

The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto,Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
2
Natural Sciences, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tamaki Paenga Hira, The Domain,
Private Bag 92018, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
3
The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
Abstract. One and two specimens of a scorpaenid fish, Parapterois macrura (Alcock, 1896), collected fromthe Arabian Sea coasts of Oman and Somalia, respectively, represent the first records of the species from thenorthwestern Arabian Sea, the species having previously been recorded only from the west coast of India. The
new records suggest that P. macrura is widely distributed in the northwestern Indian Ocean.
Key words: Scorpaenidae, Pteroinae, Parapterois macrura, Distribution, Indian Ocean

Introduction
The family Scorpaenidae comprises approximately 60 genera of more than 300 species, occupying
shallow to deep water habitats worldwide. The genus
Parapterois Bleeker, 1876 currently includes twovalid species from the Indo-West Pacific region (Motomura, 2004a), one of these, Parapterois macrura(Alcock, 1896), having been originally described by
Alcock (1896) on the basis of specimens collected
off Malabar on the west coast of India. Although, thespecies has previously been recorded only from thewest coast of India (Motomura, 2004a), one and two
specimens collected off Oman and Somalia, respectively, have been recently located and are describedherein as the first records of P. macrura from thewestern Arabian Sea.

Material and Methods
Measurements generally followed Motomura(2004b, c), except for head width and depth, and*Corresponding author: k1139853@kadai.jp

maxillary depth, which followed Motomura et al.
(2005b, 2006a), Motomura (2004a) and Motomura
et al. (2006b), respectively. Suborbital distance wastaken as the shortest distance between the ventral
margin of the orbit and the suborbital ridge. Caudalfin length was taken as the shortest distance fromthe posterior margin of the hypural plate to the tipof the middle caudal-fin ray (shortest ray). Counts
followed Motomura et al. (2005a–c) and Motomura
and Johnson (2006), with predorsal scale counts
following Motomura et al. (2006b). The last two
soft rays of the dorsal and anal fins were counted as
single rays, each pair being associated with a single
pterygiophore. Head spine terminology follows Randall and Eschmeyer (2002) and Motomura (2004c).
However, the spine occurring on the lateral surfaceof the lacrimal bone is referred to as the lateral lacrimal spine (Motomura and Senou, 2008); the coronalspine is figured in Chen (1981). Pored lateral-line
scales could not be counted in the P. macrura specimens due to their poor condition. Institutional codesused in this study are as follows: the Kagoshima
University Museum, Kagoshima (KAUM) and theMuseum Support Center of the National Museum of− 49 −

First records of Parapterois macrura from Oman and Somalia

Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland,
MD (USNM).
Parapterois macrura (Alcock, 1896)(Fig. 1; Table 1)
Pterois macrura Alcock, 1896: 303 (type locality:
off Malabar, west coast of India); Alcock, 1898:
pl. 13-4 (drawing of a specimen described by
Alcock, 1896); Alcock, 1899: 30 (off Malabar,west coast of India; description taken from Alcock, 1896); Kurian, 1953: 767 (off Trivandrum,
Kerala, west coast of India; listed)
Parapterois macrura: Kotthaus, 1979: 23, figs 470,474 (west coast of India; description based on
8 specimens; review of diagnosis); Mandrytsa,
2001: 276 (as phylogenetic material; key); Motomura, 2004a: 1, figs 1–6 (west coast of India;
review of taxonomic status, including validity anddiagnosis)

Fig. 1. Preserved specimens of Parapterois macrura. A,
KAUM–I. 52550, 113.4 mm SL, off Oman. B, USNM
287010 (1 of 2 specimens), 105.7 mm SL, off Somalia.

Material examined. KAUM–I. 52550, 113.4 mm
SL, off southeast coast of Oman (16 º 43 ′43.6 ″N, 53º59 ′05.9 ″E), Vessel Al-Mustawuila, 430 m depth, bottom
trawl, 15 Feb. 2008; USNM 287010, 2 specimens,
105.7 and 124.0 mm SL, off Ras Binnah, Somalia (11°08.00′N, 51°18.67′
E), Vessel Beinta, 64 m depth, trawl, G. J. Small, 17 Oct. 1986.

Description. Morphometrics expressed as percentages of standard length are shown in Table 1.
Dorsal-fin rays XIII, 9 (2 specimens) or 10 (1); analfin rays II, 7; pectoral-fin rays 19 (1) or 20 (2) oneach side of body, with a single upper unbranched
ray + 10 (1) or 11 (2) branched rays + 7–9 lower
unbranched rays; scale rows in longitudinal series
44–46; scales above lateral line 5 (1) or 6 (2); scales
below lateral line 7 (1) or 8 (1); scale rows between
sixth dorsal-fin spine base and lateral line 5 (2) or 6(1); scale rows between last dorsal-fin spine and lateral line 4 (1) or 5 (1); predorsal-fin scale rows 2–4;
cheek scale rows 5 (2)–8 (1); gill rakers 5 (2) or 6 (1)+ 11 (1) or 12 (2) = 16–18 (total).
Body elongate, moderately compressed, strongly
compressed posteriorly; head relatively short, high,its depth subequal to maximum body depth. Ctenoid
scales covering sides of snout, interorbital space,suborbital and postorbital areas, occiput, preopercle
and opercle; absent on interopercle, maxilla, bothlips and mandible. Scales on interorbital space reaching just behind nasal spine bases; midline of narrowinterorbital space between interorbital ridges withoutscales; scales absent or small cycloid between posterior nasal pores. Scales on occiput, comprising 2
rows of 2 or 3 anterior and 3 or 4 posterior scales, respectively. Lateral body surface with ctenoid scales;
ventral surface with weakly ctenoid scales. Exposed
elongated cycloid scales covering pectoral-fin base.
Dorsal profile of snout steep, forming an angle ofabout 60°to horizontal axis of head and body. Frontal
profile of preocular bone almost vertical, forming anangle of about 80°to horizontal axis of head and body.
Eye high, set laterally on head; upper margin of orbit
slightly higher than or level with base of first dorsalfin spine (lateral view); top of bulge on snout well
below level of ventral-most margin of orbit in large
specimens (lateral view), located between levelsof ventral-most margins of pupil and orbit in small
specimens. Upper and lower lips well developed.
Inner edge of ventral surface of dentary forming anelevated ridge. Lower jaw inserted into upper jaw
gap; teeth on upper jaw visible from ventral view;
posteroventral corner of maxilla slightly expanded− 50 −

Mizuki Matsunuma, Laith A. Jawad and Hiroyuki Motomura

Table 1. Morphometrics of Parapterois macrura, expressed aspercentages of standard length.

Locality
SL (mm)Body depth

KAUM–I.
52550
Oman
113.4
34.2

USNM 287010
Somalia124.0 105.7
35.2
33.3

Body width
24.2
24.4
24.0
Head L
43.5
45.0
40.8
Head width
14.2
14.9
13.9
Head depth
24.2
24.4
20.2
Snout L
19.9
21.5
17.2
Orbit diameter
10.3
11.9
11.4
Interorbital width1
̶
4.8
4.6
Interorbital width2
4.2
4.9
4.1
Upper jaw L
20.1
21.3
19.8
Maxillary depth
7.0
7.3
6.9
Postorbital L
21.0
21.0
17.7
Suborbital distance
12.2
13.4
10.9
Predorsal-fin L
36.5
37.7
33.8
Preanal-fin L
71.1
68.9
71.3
Prepelvic-fin L
35.6
37.2
36.9
1st D spine L
18.4
̶̶
2nd D spine L̶̶̶
3rd D spine L
39.8
̶
41.3
4th D spine L̶̶
44.1
5th D spine L̶
42.8
̶6th D spine L
42.4
44.0
44.9
12th D spine L̶̶
16.7
13th D spine L
12.3
14.0
14.6
1st D soft ray L̶̶
22.5
Longest D soft ray L
̶
29.2
29.3
1st A spine L
5.4
4.8
6.0
2nd A spine L
12.9
12.5
13.4
1st A soft ray L
22.7
22.2
̶
Longest A soft ray L
31.6
31.7
32.3
Pectoral fin L
59.9
61.4
̶
Pelvic spine L
15.1
̶
16.1
Longest pelvic ray L
30.7
32.5
̶
C fin L47.4
̶
42.2
C peduncle L
16.1
16.3
14.4
C peduncle depth
8.8
10.1
9.4
L, length; D, dorsal; A, anal; C, caudal; 1, at middle ofeye; 2, at preocular spine basefrom ventral profile of lower jaw (lateral view). Posterior margin of maxilla reaching to vertical throughmiddle of eye. About 5 rows of small conical teeth
forming blunt V-shaped patch on vomer; palatine

teeth absent.
A tentacle on posterior edge of low membranous
tube associated with anterior nostril just reaching or
extending beyond margin of posterior nostril when
depressed posteriorly. Three small rounded dermal flaps on tips of 3rd to 5th preopercular spines,
respectively. Relatively long dermal flap on tip ofposterior lacrimal spine; extending beyond ventral
profile of lower jaw when depressed ventrally (lateralview). No other dermal flaps on head and body.
Nasal spine with 2–6 spinous points on shortbase. Interorbital ridge moderately developed; reduced anteriorly and not reaching nasal spine base;posterior end of ridge connected to coronal spine
base. No median interorbital ridge. Interorbital
space relatively deep, about one fourth to one thirdof orbit diameter extending above dorsal profile ofhead. Preocular with 12–15 spinous ridges on frontal
surface; posterior edge of posterior nasal pore with
3–9 spines. Supraocular with a ridge bearing a row
of 6–9 small spines. Postocular spine with 22–36
small spines on margin of orbit. Coronal spine with
1–3 spinous points; posterior end of base connectedto parietal spine base (interorbital ridge, coronalspine base, and parietal and nuchal spine bases allconnected). Tympanic spine small with 2–3 spinous
points. Occiput relatively flat lucking a pit, anterioredge distinct, weakly curved posteriorly; no otherridges on area surrounding occiput. Parietal spinewith 3–9 spines on relatively long bases diverging
posteriorly in dorsal view. Nuchal spine with 1 or 2
spinous points; nuchal and parietal spines completely
at base. Sphenotic spine with 10–12 spinous points.
No postorbital spine. Pterotic spine with 9–15 spinous points on a relatively short, slightly posteriorly
curved base. Lower posttemporal spine with 6–11
spines on a short base. Supracleithral spine with
5–8 spinous points on a long base canted posteriorly
downward; anterior tip of base in close proximity toposttemporal spine base.
Lateral lacrimal spine with 5–7 points on ridge;
3–5 points on ventral-most ridge; 5–7 ridges with arow of numerous spines radiating posteriorly fromridge extension to preocular bone; accessing ridge− 51 −

First records of Parapterois macrura from Oman and Somalia

from lacrimal to preocular strongly spinous. Suborbital with 18–22 spines on middle ridge with several spinous ridges above and below former (55–94
spines in total). No distinct suborbital pit. Preopercle
with 5 spines; uppermost spine directed posterodorsally; other spines directed posteroventrally or ventrally. Lower opercular spine simple, skin-covered,lucking median ridge; upper opercular spine absent.
Posterior margin of opercular membrane reaching a vertical through fourth or fifth dorsal-fin spine
base. Posterior tip of pectoral fin extending wellbeyond anal-fin origin, but not reaching to caudal-finbase. Origin of pelvic-fin spine just below origin of
pectoral fin; behind pectoral fin in lateral view. Posterior tip of depressed pelvic fin reaching a verticalthrough last dorsal-fin spine base, but not reachinganal-fin origin. Origin of first anal-fin spine just below origin of last dorsal-fin spine.
Coloration of preserved specimens (Fig. 1) ̶Head and body brownish-cream. Several indistinct
narrow vertical bars on body; broad brown verticalbands behind eye, from posteroventral margin oforbit to posterior upper corner of maxilla. Numerous
small black spots on soft-rayed portions of dorsal fin
and upper half of caudal fin; middle portion of pectoral fin blackish, ca. 4 uppermost rays with several
black bands; pelvic fin blackish.
Remarks. The following combination of characters are found in the present specimens agree withthose given by Motomura (2004a): no scales on
midline of interorbital space; scale rows in longitudinal series 47 or 48; head length 40.8–43.5 % of
SL; upper margin of orbit higher than or level withbase of first dorsal-fin spine (lateral view); top ofbulge on snout well below ventral-most margin oforbit in larger specimens (lateral view) or locatedbetween levels of ventral-most margins of pupil
and orbit in small specimens. Small differences inmorphometrics, regarded here as intraspecific variations, were found between the present specimens
and those from the west coast of India describedby Motomura(2004a): slightly greater snout length,17.2–21.5 % of SL [vs. 12.9–19.1% (mean 15.8%)
of SL in Motomura (2004a)]; slightly lesser head

depth, 20.2–24.4 % of SL [vs. 21.0–25.1% (23.0 %)of SL].
Parapterois macrura has previously been recorded from off the west coast of India (see synonymlist), but not at all in ichthyofaunal studies of the
Omani coasts of the Arabian Sea (White and Barwani, 1971; Randall, 1994, 1995; Al-Abdessalaam,
1995) or the Somali coast (Sommer et al., 1996).
Therefore, the present specimens represent the firstrecords of P. macrura collected off Oman and Somalia, and indicate that the species is widely distributed in the northwestern Indian Ocean.
Comparative material examined. Parapterois
heterura (Bleeker, 1856): BMNH 1903.12.31.6(syntype? of Pterois nigripinnis Gilchrist, 1904),
54.5 mm SL, BMNH 1930.1.14.3 (syntype? of P. nigripinnis), 54.6 mm SL, Natal, South Africa; BMNH
1905.6.6.265 (holotype of Pterois jordani Regan,1905), 66.2 mm SL, Inland Sea , Japan; RMNH
5872 (holotype of Pterois heterurus Bleeker, 1856),
77.6 mm SL, Ambon, Indonesia; KAUM–I. 10808,
93.8 mm SL, KAUM–I. 10850, 88.9 mm SL, Kagoshima, Japan; KAUM–I. 12460, 111.8 mm SL,
KAUM–I. 22050, 96.5 mm SL, KAUM–I. 22051,
110.0 mm SL, Sabah, Malaysia; KAUM–I. 23102,
105.6 mm SL, KAUM–I. 23796, 131.2 mm SL,
KAUM–I. 24130, 130.3 mm SL, KAUM–I. 24131,
140.9 mm SL, KAUM–I. 24132, 121.1 mm SL,
KAUM–I. 24133, 121.4 mm SL, Gulf of Thailand;
KAUM–I. 43826, 78.2 mm SL, Taiwan.
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to J. Maclaine andO. Crimmen (BMNH), R. de Ruiter (RMNH) and
J. Williams (USNM) for specimen loans and their
hospitalities during the first author s stay at their
institutions. We thank G. Hardy (Ngungru, New
Zealand) for reading the manuscript and his helpfulcomments.

− 52 −

Mizuki Matsunuma, Laith A. Jawad and Hiroyuki Motomura

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（Received January 24, 2013; Accepted January 28, 2013）− 54 −