Species Diversity 21: 171–175
25 November 2016
DOI: 10.12782/sd.21.2.171

First Japanese Specimen-based Records of Cypho zaps
(Perciformes: Pseudochromidae) from
Yonaguni-jima Island, the Yaeyama Islands
Tomohiro Yoshida1,3, Keita Koeda2, and Hiroyuki Motomura2
1 The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University,

1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
E-mail: k5299534@kadai.jp
2 The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
E-mail: hatampo@gmail.com (KK); motomura@kaum.kagoshima-u.ac.jp (HM)
3 Corresponding author(Received 30 April 2016; Accepted 7 July 2016)
Three specimens (31.6–38.2 mm standard length) of Cypho zaps Gill, 2004 (Pseudochromidae), previously known
from voucher specimens only from Indonesia, the Philippines, and southern Taiwan, were collected off Yonaguni-jimaisland, Yaeyama Islands, southern Ryukyu Islands. They were clearly distinguished from the only known other congener,
C. purpurascens (De Vis, 1884), by the staggered arrangement of the dark vertical lines in the center of each body scale,
which do not form continuous bars as they do in the latter species. These specimens represent the first records of C. zaps
from Japan supported by voucher specimens, and the northernmost distributional records of the species.
Key Words: new record, distribution, Okinawa, Ryukyu Archipelago, Chequered Dottyback.

Introduction
The family Pseudochromidae comprises four subfamilies:
viz., Anisochrominae, Congrogadinae, Pseudochrominae,
and Pseudoplesiopinae (Godkin and Winterbottom 1985).
The subfamily Pseudochrominae contains 10 genera with 80
species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean (Gill 2004), of which four
genera with nine species have been recorded from Japanesewaters (Hayashi et al. 2013). The genus Cypho Myers, 1940of the Pseudochrominae contains two valid Pacific species(Gill 2004): C. purpurascens (De Vis, 1884) and C. zaps Gill,
2004. Cypho purpurascens is known only from the southwestern Pacific (northeast of Australia to Tonga; Gill 2004).
Cypho zaps was originally described by Gill (2004) on thebasis of 46 specimens collected from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Although he also reported this species
from Yonaguni-jima island in the Yaeyama Islands, southern Japan, on the basis of an underwater photograph, thephotograph was not shown in his article. Senou et al. (2007)
subsequently reported this species from Shimoji-jima islandin the Miyako Islands, again based on an underwater photograph. Allen and Erdmann (2012) included the Ryukyu
Islands in the distributional range of this species, probably
based on Gill’s (2004) photographic record. During a joint
ichthyofaunal survey at Yonaguni-jima island in September,
2015, by researchers from five Japanese universities, three
specimens of C. zaps were collected off the island, whichis the westernmost island in Japan (ca. 500 km southwestof Okinawa-jima island). These specimens are herein described as the first specimen-based records of C. zaps fromJapan, and the northernmost record of the species based onvoucher specimens.

Materials and Methods
Counts and measurements follow Gill (2004). Measurements were made to the nearest 0.1 mm with needle-point
digital calipers under a dissecting microscope. The morphological description is based on the three specimens collected from Yonaguni-jima island. Curatorial procedures forthe collected specimen followed Motomura and Ishikawa(2013). Institutional codes follow Sabaj Pérez (2014). The
specimens of C. zaps examined in this study are depositedin the Kagoshima University Museum, Kagoshima, Japan(KAUM). Underwater photographs of C. zaps referenced
in this study are registered at the Image Database of Fishes
in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History,
Odawara, Japan (KPM-NR).
Cypho zaps Gill, 2004
[New Japanese generic name: Donan-megisu-zoku][New standard Japanese name: Donan-megisu](Figs 1–2; Tables 1–2)
Cypho zaps Gill, 2004: 23, figs 8–10 (type locality: Batan Island, Philippines); Senou et al. 2007: 52, fig. 6 (Shimojijima island, Miyako Islands, Japan); Ho and Shao 2011: 42(Green and Orchid islands and Kenting, Taiwan); Allenand Erdmann 2012: 323, lower figs (Halmahera and Raja
Ampat Islands, Indonesia); Yang et al. 2013: 79, lower left
© 2016 The Japanese Society of Systematic Zoology

172

Tomohiro Yoshida et al.

Fig. 1. Fresh specimens of Cypho zaps collected from Yonaguni-jima island, Japan. A, KAUM–I. 78334, 35.6 mm standard length (SL),
Rakuda Rock; B, KAUM–I. 78364, 38.2 mm SL, off Hinan Port; C, KAUM–I. 78543, 31.6 mm SL, off Umabana.

side fig. (Orchid Island, Taiwan).
Material examined. All from Yonaguni-jima island,
Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan: KAUM–I.
78334, 35.6 mm SL, Rakuda Rock, 24°26′27″N, 122°57′02″E,
20 m depth, 17 September 2015, K. Koeda; KAUM–I.
78364, 38.2 mm SL, off Kubura Hinan Port, 24°26′35″N,
122°56′22″E, 26 m depth, 18 September 2015, K. Koeda;
KAUM–I. 78543, 31.6 mm SL, off Umabana, 24°28′21″N,
122°57′49″E, 26 m depth, 22 September 2015, K. Koeda.
Description. Body oblong, moderately deep and compressed, deepest at anus. Dorsal profile of head and body inside view convex from snout tip to caudal-fin base. Ventral
profile of head and body in side view convex from lower-jaw
tip to end of anal-fin base, straight at caudal peduncle. Headpointed, large, 3.7–3.8 in SL. Anterior lateral line ending
below base of 18th dorsal-fin soft ray. Posterior lateral line
beginning below base of 18th dorsal-fin soft ray. Eye rounded, large, 3.0–3.1 in HL. Pupil tear-drop shaped. Mouth
small, slightly oblique, forming angle of ca. 30° to horizontal
axis of body. Posterior margin of maxilla extending slightly
beyond vertical drawn through center of pupil; upper-jaw
length less than half head length.
Two pairs of enlarged canine teeth on anterior part ofFirst Japanese records of Cypho zaps173

Table 1.

Meristics of Cypho zaps specimens from Japan and type specimens (western Pacific Ocean).
This study

Standard length (SL; mm)
Dorsal-fin rays
Anal-fin rays
Pectoral-fin rays
Upper procurrent caudal-fin rays
Lower procurrent caudal-fin rays
Total caudal-fin rays
Scales in lateral series
Anterior lateral-line scales
Anterior lateral line terminating beneath segmented dorsal-fin ray
Posterior lateral-line scales
Scale rows between lateral lines
Horizontal scale rows above anal-fin origin
Circumpeduncular scales
Pre-dorsal-fin scale rows
Gill rakers
Pseudobranch filaments
Circumorbital pores
Preopercular pores
Dentary pores
Posterior interorbital poreseach jaw; villiform teeth in 4–6 rows at symphysis, diminishing to 1 or 2 rows on sides of jaw in upper jaw. Villiform
teeth in 1 or 2 rows in lower jaw. Two to 4 rows of tiny teethon vomer and ectopterygoids.
Anterior nostril with short tube, uppermost margin levelwith ventral margin of pupil. Posterior nostril oval, opening
vertically, uppermost margin below level of middle of pupil.
Opercular and preopercular margins smooth. Gill rakers slender, moderately long but shorter than gill filaments.
Head nearly full-scaled, only region around nostrils andpores on snout unscaled; small scales on base of dorsal, anal,and caudal fins.
Origin of dorsal fin anterior to vertical drawn throughpectoral- and pelvic-fin origins; third spine of dorsal fin longest; 20th or 21st soft ray of dorsal fin longest. Origin of anal
fin below base of eighth soft ray of dorsal fin; third spine ofanal fin longest; 13th soft ray of anal fin longest. Origin ofpelvic fin below central part of pectoral-fin base. Pectoral fin
rounded, posterior tip reaching vertical drawn through baseof seventh soft ray of dorsal fin. Posterior tip of depressed
pelvic fin reaching vertical drawn through base of eighth
soft ray of dorsal fin. Caudal fin rounded.
Coloration when fresh—Strength and intensity of color
varying between specimens. Head bright orange-red to yellow, body bright orange-red to orange, with orange to yellow
abdomen. Posterior and ventral margin of orbit dark-blue toblue. Scales of head and body, except abdomen, each withdark-blue to blue oblique bar in middle. Bars wider posteriorly on body. Bluish-grey stripe along dorsal margin of
upper jaw curving posterodorsally and ending behind margin of eye. Pupil black; iris bright orange to yellow with two

Gill (2004)

Non-types
Yonaguni-jima island
n=3

Holotype
Philippines

Paratypes
Western Pacific
n=17

31.6–38.2
III, 23
III, 14
16–17
6
5
29
35
24–28
15–18th
5–9+1
3
14
14–16
14–15
4–5+11=15–16
10
17–18
8
4
0

35.4
III, 23
III, 14
17
—
5
28
35
28
17th
7+1
3
15
14
15
4+10=14
10
20
10
4
0

30.4–51.0
III, 22–23
III, 14
16–19
6–7
5–6
28–30
29–37
24–31
15–21st3–13+0–2
2–4
14–18
14–16
13–18
3–5+9–11=13–16
7–14
16–26
8–16
4–5
0

Fig. 2. Underwater photograph of Cypho zaps, off Yonaguni-jimaisland, 16 January 2012, taken by T. Uchiyama.

diagonal and parallel dark-blue to blue bars, respectively
located above and below pupil. Dorsal and anal fins brightorange-red to orange, lighter distally. One or two faint bluish-grey mid-lateral stripes on dorsal and anal fins. Outermargin of both fins bluish-grey. Pectoral fin semi-transparent without distinct markings. Pelvic fins semi-transparent
yellow to orange with pale-blue anterior margin. Caudal fin
bright orange-red to lighter orange distally, with faint bluish-grey mid-caudal stripe and bluish-grey outer margin.
Coloration in life—Based on underwater photographs
taken at Yonaguni-jima island (Fig. 2): similar to colorationof fresh specimens, but whole body generally pale.
Coloration of preserved specimens—Head and body pale

174

Table 2.

Tomohiro Yoshida et al.

Morphometrics of specimens of Cypho zaps (expressed as percentages of SL) from Japan and type specimens (western Pacific Ocean).
This study

Standard length (SL; mm)
Head length
Orbit diameter
Snout length
Fleshy interorbital width
Bony interorbital width
Body width
Distance from snout tip to posterior tip of retroarticular bone
Pre-dorsal-fin length
Pre-pelvic-fin length
Distance from posterior tip of retroarticular bone to pelvic-fin origin
Distance from dorsal-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin
Distance from dorsal-fin origin to base of middle part of dorsal-fin ray
Distance from dorsal-fin origin to anal-fin origin
Distance from pelvic-fin origin to anal-fin origin
Distance from middle of dorsal-fin ray base to end of dorsal-fin baseDistance from middle of dorsal-fin ray base to anal-fin origin
Distance from anal-fin origin to end of dorsal-fin baseAnal-fin base length
Distance from end of dorsal-fin base to end of anal-fin baseDistance from end of dorsal-fin base to end of dorsal edge of caudal peduncle
Distance from end of dorsal-fin base to end of ventral edge of caudal peduncle
Distance from end of anal-fin base to end of dorsal edge of caudal peduncle
Distance from end of anal-fin base to end of ventral edge of caudal peduncle
1st dorsal-fin spine length
2nd dorsal-fin spine length
3rd dorsal-fin spine length
1st segmented dorsal-fin ray length
Length of 4th-to-last segmented dorsal-fin ray
1st anal-fin spine length
2nd anal-fin spine length
3rd anal-fin spine length
First segmented anal-fin ray length
Length of 4th-to-last segmented anal-fin ray
Third pectoral-fin ray length
Pelvic-fin spine length
Second segmented pelvic-fin ray length
Caudal-fin lengthtan; dark markings persistent on head and body scales. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins with blackish distal margins andmid-lateral stripes.
Distribution. Cypho zaps has been recorded from thewestern Pacific Ocean at the following localities: Kawa Island, Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia (Gill 2004); Batan, Mavulis, and Sabtang islands, Batan Islands, and Luzon, Philippines (Gill 2004); Green and Orchid islands and Kenting,Taiwan (Gill 2004; Ho and Shao 2011); and Yonaguni-jimaisland, Yaeyama Islands, Japan (this study). Underwaterphotographs of C. zaps have been taken at West Papua and
Sulawesi, Indonesia (Allen and Erdmann 2012); Orchid Island, Taiwan (Yang et al. 2013); Yonaguni-jima island, Japan(Gill 2004–used for color description, but unpublished; thisstudy); Nakanougan-jima island (KPM-NR 22932), Hateru-

Gill (2004)

Non-types
Yonaguni-jima island
n=3

Holotype
Philippines

Paratypes
Western Pacific
n=45

31.6–38.2
26.4–27.3
8.5–9.0
6.0–6.5
4.1–5.2
3.0–3.9
14.2–14.6
13.9–14.9
33.9–35.1
32.0–34.3
17.7–21.5
27.6–28.2
35.8–36.4
39.9–40.7
21.5–25.9
24.9–26.3
27.5–29.8
37.4–38.3
31.0–31.9
16.1–16.5
10.9–11.1
16.9–18.7
18.3–19.6
10.7–11.5
1.9–2.4
3.4–4.4
5.8–7.0
10.8–11.5
16.4
1.9–2.2
4.1–4.7
6.3–7.1
10.8–11.7
16.2–18.7
16.1–18.6
9.8–9.9
21.5–23.4
25.7–27.5

35.4
25.1
9.9
5.1
4.8
3.1
12.4
14.7
32.8
32.2
18.6
28.0
37.3
41.5
26.3
26.3
28.8
37.3
30.8
15.8
10.2
18.1
18.9
11.9
2.3
4.5
7.1
13.0
18.9
2.3
4.8
7.6
12.1
18.1
18.4
9.9
23.2
28.2

30.4–51.0
23.1–27.0
8.0–10.9
4.8–6.3
4.5–5.6
2.8–3.7
11.4–14.8
13.2–15.1
30.5–35.2
29.6–33.4
17.3–20.5
26.9–30.6
35.0–37.8
39.4–42.5
25.3–30.6
23.3–27.3
26.0–27.9
35.0–39.0
28.1–32.0
13.3–16.8
8.9–11.4
15.9–18.7
17.1–20.1
10.7–12.9
1.7–3.2
4.1–5.7
5.8–7.7
9.9–13.8
17.7–21.8
1.6–3.9
3.9–6.7
5.8–9.0
10.6–13.6
17.1–20.8
14.5–19.3
8.8–11.0
21.2–24.4
25.2–32.3

ma-jima island (KPM-NR 13185, 26770), and Iriomote-jimaisland (KPM-NR 17116) (all Yaeyama Islands, Japan); Shimoji-jima island, Miyako Islands, Japan (Senou et al. 2007);and Kume-jima island, Okinawa Islands, Japan (KPM-NR
38916, 38917). The collection data for the preserved specimens indicates capture depths of 0–26 m, and the underwater photographs were taken at depths of 5–35 m.
Remarks. The present specimens from Yonaguni-jimaisland were identified as a species of the genus Cypho, being
clearly distinguished from other genera by the following
combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays III, 22–24; analfin rays III, 13–15; circumpeduncular scales 14–17; vertebrae 10+16 (Gill 2004). They were subsequently identified
as C. zaps on the basis of having a vertical dark line centrally on each body scale, but with these lines being separated

First Japanese records of Cypho zaps175

from each other and not forming continuous bars. This is adiagnostic character of the species according to Gill (2004).
Most meristic and morphometric values for the present
specimens lie within the ranges of those of the holotype andparatypes of C. zaps given by Gill (2004) (Tables 1–2). However, the Yonaguni-jima island specimens differed slightly inmorphometric measurements from the type series of C. zaps
as follows: head length 26.4–27.3% SL [vs. 23.1–27.0% SL in
the latter]; snout length 6.0–6.5% SL (vs. 4.8–6.3%); fleshyinterorbital width 4.1–5.2% SL (vs. 4.5–5.6%); pre-pelvic-fin
length 32.0–34.3% SL (vs. 29.6–33.4%); distance from posterior tip of retroarticular bone to pelvic-fin origin 17.7–
21.5% SL (vs. 17.3–20.5%); distance from pelvic-fin to analfin origin 21.5–25.9% SL (vs. 25.3–30.6%); distance frommiddle dorsal-fin ray base to anal-fin origin 27.5–29.8% SL(vs. 26.0–27.9%); second dorsal-fin spine length 3.4–4.4%
SL (vs. 4.1–5.7%); length of fourth to last segmented dorsalfin ray 16.4% SL (vs. 17.7–21.8%); and length of fourth tolast segmented anal-fin ray 16.2–18.7% SL (vs. 17.1–20.8%)(Table 2). Since the SL range of the specimens examined inthis study was within that of the specimens described by Gill
(2004), these minor morphometric differences are regarded
as intraspecific variation of C. zaps.
Gill (2004) provided color descriptions of both fresh andpreserved mature male and preserved female specimens of
C. zaps, but did not mention the fresh female coloration.
Allen and Erdmann (2012: 323) later presented underwaterphotographs of mature male and female individuals, and indicated sexual coloration differences. All specimens collected from Yonaguni-jima island and those photographed underwater there and elsewhere in Japanese waters were males,
the coloration of which agreed well with that of males described by Gill (2004) and illustrated by Allen and Erdmann(2012).
Although C. zaps has been recorded previously from the
Ryukyu Islands on the basis of underwater photographs (seedistribution), the northernmost record of the species basedon collected specimens has been considered to be Green
Island, Taiwan (ASIZT P. 57275; BMNH 1999.12.30.1).
Therefore, the present three specimens collected from
Yonaguni-jima island represent the first records of C. zaps
from Japan supported by voucher specimens, and the northernmost record of the species.
New Japanese names, “Donan-megisu-zoku” and “Donanmegisu”, are herein proposed for the genus and species, respectively, on the basis of one specimen (KAUM–I. 78334).
The proposed species name is a combination of “donan”,
from the local name for Yonaguni-jima island, and “megisu”,
the common Japanese name for members of the family
Pseudochromidae.

Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to T. Uchiyama (Diving Service
MARLIN) for his help in the field survey and for providing
an underwater photograph. We thank K. Eguchi, T. Inaba,
and T. Uejo (KAUM); Y. Kimura, S. Tanaka, and M. Fuji-

sawa (Hiroshima University); Y. Hibino, D. Sasaki, T. Furukawa, and H. Suzuki (Mie University); R. Miki and H. Wada
(University of Miyazaki); and T. Kunishima and M. Sakurai(University of the Ryukyus) for their help in field collectionand examination of specimens, and G. Hardy (Ngunguru,
New Zealand) for reading the manuscript and providing
help with the English. We also thank H. Senou (KPM) for
the opportunity to examine underwater photographs. This
study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid from theJapan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan(JSPS) to JSPS Fellows (PD: 26-477) to the second author,
plus Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A: 26241027, B:
24370041, and C: 23580259 and 26450265) from JSPS; theJSPS Core-to-Core Program, “Research and Education Network on Southeast Asian Coastal Ecosystems”; the “Coastal
Area Capability Enhancement in Southeast Asia Project”
of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto,
Japan; the “Biological Properties of Biodiversity Hotspots inJapan” project of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan; and the “Establishment of Researchand Education Network on Biodiversity and Its Conservation in the Satsunan Islands” project of Kagoshima University adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology, Japan.

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