B i ogeography 14.
31– 36．Sep. 20, 2012

First Equatorial Records of Neosebastes entaxis and N. longirostris(Scorpaeniformes: Neosebastidae) from Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia
Hiroyuki Motomura1* and Teguh Peristiwady2
1 The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
2 Technical Implementation Unit for Marine Biota Conservation, Indonesian Institute of Science,

J1 Tandurusa, Kel. Tandurusa, Kotamadya Bitung 95227, Indonesia
Abstract. Catches of two neosebastid ﬁshes (Scorpaeniformes), Neosebastes entaxis Jordan and Starks, 1904
(2 specimens: 143.6–184.9 mm standard length) and N. longirostris Motomura, 2004 (1 specimen: 176.2 mmstandard length) from northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, represent the ﬁrst records of the species and genus fromthe equatorial waters. Neosebastes entaxis has previously been recorded from Japan and Taiwan, and N. longirostris has been known only from northwestern Western Australia (Indian Ocean). The Indonesian specimens
are here described.
Key words: Neosebastidae, scorpionﬁsh, Neosebastes entaxis, Neosebastes longirostris, Indonesia

Introduction
The genus Neosebastes Guichenot, 1867 (Neosebastidae) was reviewed by Motomura (2004) who
recognized 12 valid species, including ﬁve new species.
The genus has been considered to represent an antiequatorial distribution (Motomura, 2004; Motomuraand Causse, 2010).
During ichthyofaunal surveys of Bitung, northern
Sulawesi, Indonesia (e.g., Motomura & Peristiwady,2010), two specimens of Neosebastes entaxis and one
specimen of N. longirostris were collected from depthsof 20–30 m off Bitung. Neosebastes entaxis has previously been recorded only from Japan and Taiwan on
the basis of collected specimens and N. longirostris has
been known only from the type specimens from northwestern Western Australia (Indian Ocean). The Indonesian specimens are described herein as the ﬁrst recordsof the species and genus from the equatorial region, andthe southernmost and northernmost records of the two*Corresponding author: motomura@kaum.kagoshima-u.ac.jp

species.
Counts, measurements and terminology of headspines followed Motomura (2004). The last two softrays of the dorsal and anal ﬁns were counted as single
rays, each pair being associated with a single pterygiophore. Standard and head lengths are expressed as SLand HL respectively. Morphometric data in Tables 1–2
are rounded off to whole numbers. The specimens fromIndonesia examined in this study have been depositedat the Reference Collection of LIPI Bitung (LBRCF), Technical Implementation Unit for Marine Biota
Conservation, Indonesian Institute of Science, Bitung,Indonesia.
Neosebastes entaxis Jordan and Starks, 1904
(Fig. 1A; Table 1)
Neosebastes entaxis Jordan and Starks, 1904: 120,ﬁg. 7 (type locality: Misaki, Kanagawa, Japan).
Material examined. LBRC-F 1416, 143.6 mm SL,
off Bitung, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, 20–30 mdepth, 28 Feb. 2009, line-ﬁshing (purchased at Girian− 31 −First records of two neosebastids from the western central PaciﬁcFig. 1. Two neosebastids from Sulawesi, Indonesia. A, Neosebastes entaxis, LBRC-F 1416, 143.6 mmstandard length; B, Neosebastes longirostris, LBRC-F 2185, 176.2 mm standard length. Photos byT. Peristiwady.

Market, Bitung, by T. Peristiwady); LBRC-F 2421,
184.9 mm SL, off Bitung, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, 20–30 m depth, 6 Feb. 2011, line-ﬁshing (purchased
at Girian Market, Bitung, by T. Peristiwady).

Description. Proportional measurements are given in
Table 1. Dorsal-ﬁn rays XIII, 8; anal-ﬁn rays III, 5; pectoral-ﬁn rays 21; pored lateral-line scales 33–34; scalerows in longitudinal series 51–52; scale rows between− 32 −

Hiroyuki Motomura and Teguh Peristiwady

Table 1. Morphometric characters of Neosebastes entaxis, expressed as a percentage of standard length. Mean values in parentheses include data for the type material.
This studyMotomura (2004)

Non-types
Indonesia
n=2

HolotypeJapanSU 7367

ParatypeJapanSU 7414

Non-types
Japan and Taiwann = 28

Standard length (mm)144–185137

140

70–180Body depth

55–56

35

36

34–46 (36)

Body width

25

24

21

20–26 (24)

Head L

45–47

45

45

44–49 (45)

Snout L

11–13

11

11

10–12 (11)Orbit diameter

13–14

14

14

13–16 (14)Interorbital width

6–7

78

6–8 (7)Upper jaw L

18–19

18

17

16–19 (18)

Postorbital L

21–22

21

22

20–23 (21)Predorsal ﬁn L

34–36

34

35

34–38 (35)Preanal ﬁn L

73–76

73

74

71–74 (73)Prepelvic ﬁn L

36–383638

35–39 (36)

1st D spine L

12–14

1415

11–17 (14)

2nd D spine L

22–23

21

20

18–29 (21)Longest D spine L (3rd or 4th)

29–34

broken30

27–36 (30)12th D spine L1099

7–10 (8)13th D spine L

12–13

13

12

11–13 (12)Longest D ray L (2nd)19–21

brokenbroken17–23 (20)

1st A spine L

11–12

11

12

10–12 (11)

2nd A spine L

19–20

19

20

16–20 (18)

3rd A spine L

16–17

1415

13–16 (15)Longest A ray L (1st or 2nd)

20–21

broken19

16–20 (19)Pectoral ﬁn L

35–39

34broken

33–38 (36)Pelvic spine L

17–19

1719

16–20 (18)Longest pelvic ray L (2nd)

29–31

26

29

25–29 (27)

C ﬁn L

25–28

26

broken24–28 (27)

C peduncle L

16–17

1717

15–19 (17)

C peduncle depth

10–11

10

11

10–11 (10)SU, Stanford University collection deposited at the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; L, length; D, dorsal;
A, anal; C, caudal.

− 33 −

First records of two neosebastids from the western central Paciﬁclast dorsal-fin spine origin and lateral line 5½; welldeveloped gill rakers 2 + 7–8; rudimentary gill rakers
3 + 4–5; underside of mandible with numerous tiny
pores, no ridges; preocular spine divided into 2 points,and flattened anteriorly and posteriorly; no additional
spines between lacrimal and suborbital ridges; upper
opercular spine simple; midinterorbital space moderately deep, not covered with scales; interorbital ridgesindistinct; posterior margin of maxilla not reaching a
vertical at posterior margin of pupil; interorbital width
wide (4.1–6.0 in HL); membrane anterior to sixth dorsal-ﬁn spine extending up to 51.2–53.9% of the spine
length; ﬁrst anal-ﬁn spine 1.4–1.5 in third spine; second
pelvic-ﬁn soft ray 1.5 in HL; head and body blackish inpreserved specimens; body, head, and pelvic and anal
ﬁns orange when fresh; no distinct small black spots onhead or lateral line.
Remarks. The above characters of the present specimens from Indonesia agree with the characters of N.
entaxis given by Motomura (2004) who redescribed
the species on the basis of 30 specimens, including theholotype and paratype. Detailed comparisons of N.
entaxis with other congeners were given in Motomura(2004).
Prior to Motomura (2004), N. entaxis was considered to occur off the Ogasawara Islands (Randall et al.,
1997; Nakabo, 2002) and northern Australia (Allenand Cross, 1989), in addition to the southern Pacificcoast of the Japanese mainland and Taiwan. Specimensfrom the Ogasawara Islands and Australia were thendescribed by Motomura (2004) as one and three new
species respectively. Motomura (2004) considered N.
entaxis as endemic to the East Asian continental shelf.
Thus, the present specimens from Bitung, northern
Sulawesi, Indonesia, represent the first records of N.
entaxis from the tropical region in the western Paciﬁc
Ocean on the basis of collected specimens. In addition
to the present Indonesian records, the occurrences ofN. entaxis in the Ryukyu Islands and the Philippines
were recently conﬁrmed by the ﬁrst author (specimens
not collected), suggesting that the species is widely andcontinuously distributed in the western Pacific fromJapan and Taiwan to Indonesia.

Neosebastes longirostris Motomura, 2004
(Fig. 1B; Table 2)
Neosebastes longirostris Motomura, 2004: 41, ﬁgs.
2C, 3E, 4B, 6B, 7A, 8D, 9D, 19, 20, pls. 1-G (type locality: north of Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia,19°33–35′S, 115°36–38′E).
Material examined. LBRC-F 2185, 176.2 mm SL,off Bitung, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, 20–30 m
depth, 28 Aug. 2011, line-ﬁshing, coll. by Kusno (purchased at Girian Market, Bitung, by T. Peristiwady).
Description. Proportional measurements are given
in Table 1. Dorsal-ﬁn rays XIII, 8; anal-ﬁn rays III, 5;
pectoral-ﬁn rays 22; pored lateral-line scales 34; scalerows in longitudinal series 58; scale rows between lastdorsal-ﬁn spine origin and lateral line 8; well-developed
gill rakers 2 + 6; rudimentary gill rakers 3 + 6; underside of mandible with numerous tiny pores, no ridges;
preocular spine simple, and flattened anteriorly andposteriorly; supraocular spines occurring only posterior
to vertical midline of eye; no additional spines between
lacrimal and suborbital ridges; upper opercular spinesimple; midinterorbital space covered with scales; interorbital space shallow; posterior margin of maxilla notreaching a vertical through posterior margin of pupil;snout length long (4.0 in HL); interorbital width wide(6.0 in HL); body depth shallow (3.2 in SL); no distinct
small black spots on head or lateral line.
Remarks. The above characters of the present specimen from Indonesia agree with the characters of N. longirostris given by Motomura (2004), with the exception of 6 well-developed gill rakers on the lower limb
in the Indonesian specimen [vs. 8 or 9 rakers (based on
13 type specimens); Motomura, 2004]. Judging fromintraspeciﬁc variations of gill-raker counts in scorpaenids, the Indonesian specimen can be identiﬁed as N.
longirostris. Detailed comparisons of N. longirostriswith other congeners were given in Motomura (2004).
Neosebastes longirostris has previously been
known only from off the northwestern coast of Western
Australia between 14°and 20°
S (Motomura, 2004: ﬁg.
20). Thus, the present specimen from Bitung, northern
Sulawesi, Indonesia, represents the ﬁrst record from the− 34 −

Hiroyuki Motomura and Teguh Peristiwady

Table 2. Morphometric characters of Neosebastes longirostris, expressed as a percentage of standard
length. Mean values in parentheses include data for the holotype.
This study

Motomura (2004)

Non-types
Indonesia
LBRC-F 2185

Holotype
Australia
CSIRO H. 5198-03

Paratypes
Australia
n = 12Standard length (mm)

176

161

81–169Body depth

3132

30–36 (32)

Body width

21

22

19–23 (21)Head L45

45

45–50 (47)

Snout L1113

12–13 (13)Orbit diameter

1312

12–16 (14)Interorbital width88

7–9 (8)Upper jaw L

1918

18–21 (19)Postorbital L

22

22

21–24 (22)Predorsal ﬁn L

34

35

34–39 (36)Preanal ﬁn L

7373

71–75 (73)Prepelvic ﬁn L

39

35

35–40 (38)

1st D spine L13

11

8–14 (11)

2nd D spine L20

16

15–22 (18)Longest D spine L (3rd or 4th)29

24

23–31 (25)12th D spine L

7

6

5–8 (7)13th D spine L12

9

9–13 (11)Longest D ray L (2nd)20

18

16–22 (18)

1st A spine L

11

10

9–13 (10)

2nd A spine L

17

16

14–22 (17)

3rd A spine L15

14

12–17 (14)Longest A ray L (1st or 2nd)20

18

17–21 (19)Pectoral ﬁn L

35

32

29–35 (32)

Pelvic spine L

16

15

14–21 (17)Longest pelvic ray L (2nd)2624

22–29 (25)

C ﬁn L29

25

24–30 (27)

C peduncle L18

17

16–19 (18)

C peduncle depth

1010

9–11 (10)CSIRO, Australian National Fish Collection at the Commonwealth Scientiﬁc and Industrial Research
Organisation s Marine and Atmospheric Research laboratories, Hobart; L, length; D, dorsal; A, anal; C,caudal.

− 35 −

First records of two neosebastids from the western central Paciﬁc

Paciﬁc Ocean and northernmost record of the species.
The distributional pattern of N. longirostris (i.e., occurring in northwestern Western Australia and northern Sulawesi, and lack of records from other Southeast Asianwaters) is inexplicable, with the exception of the following hypothesis. The species might have been widelydistributed in Southeast Asian waters before the Pleistocene, the last cold period being about 12,000 years ago,and Australian and Asian populations of the species
were then separated by the Sundaland during the Pleistocene. Appropriate marine environments remained off
northern Sulawesi even during the Pleistocene (Morleyand Flenley, 1987). This suggests that N. longirostris innorthern Sulawesi might be a relic population.
The Indonesian specimen was collected at a depthof 20–30 m, whereas the capture depths of the Australian specimens were from 170–250 m (Motomura,2004). Further specimens are required from Indonesia
to determine whether or not the Indonesian population
also occurs in deeper water.
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to Embo and Kusno(Girian, Bitung, Indonesia) for their assistance to collectthe specimens of Neosebastes. We thank K. Matsuura(National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan) andS. Kimura (Mie University, Japan) for the opportunity
to examine the specimens, and D. Sasaki, Y. Hibino andS. Takeuchi (Mie University, Japan) for their assistanceduring the ﬁrst author s stay in Bitung. We greatly appreciated comments on the manuscript by G. Yearsley(Hobart, Australia). This study was supported in partby a Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research (C) from theJapan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS),Japan (23580259) and 2011 Program on Fish Diversityof Coral Reef Ecosystems in Coral Triangle from theMinistry of Sciences and Technology, Indonesia. Theﬁrst author s visit to Bitung in 2011 was supported by
the JSPS–Asian Core Program Coastal Ecosystems inSoutheast Asia .

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(Received Janualy 23, 2012; Accepted February 13, 2011)− 36 −