Parupeneus moffiti Randal & Myers 1993
Creators: name: Uiblein, Franz
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Perciformes
Mullidae
Parupeneus
Parupeneus moffiti

description: Parupeneus moffiti Randal & Myers, 1993
Moffitt’s Goatfish
(Figs 1, 2D; Tab. I)
Material examined
Holotype. – BPBM 34930, 230 mm SL, West Pacific, Mariana Islands, Guam, 120 m depth.
Paratype. – BPBM 35051, 219 mm SL, same locality as HT, 230 m depth.
Diagnosis
Morphological characters
Pectoral fins 15; lateral-line scales 27; gill rakers 7-8 + 28-30 = 36-38; measurements in % SL (only large-sized fish available): body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 27-28; body depth at anus 23-24; caudal-peduncle depth 9.7-9.9; maximum head depth 24-25; head depth through eye 22-23; interorbital length 8.5; head length 32; snout length 16-17; postorbital length 11; orbit length 6.3-6.6; upper jaw length 13; barbel length 29; caudal-peduncle length 23-24; caudal-fin length 29; height of second anal-fin ray 13; pelvic-fin length 24; pectoral-fin length 24; height of second dorsal-fin spine 18; height of third dorsal-fin spine 23; height of second dorsal-fin ray 13-14 and height of ninth dorsal-fin ray 11; posterior maxilla margin ventrally rather straight and dorsally extended.
Colour
Fresh fish shortly after death with head and body below eye and mid-line pale red and a red belly margin that extends distally to caudal-peduncle and caudal-fin ventral margins; head dorsally from eye level, and body above the eye to the dorsal margin and base of the fins, with a red stripe ending behind the second dorsal fin and overlain in its middle part by a pink stripe from behind opercle to end of second dorsal-fin base; the stripe increasing in width from about half pupil size to orbit diameter posteriorly; mid-body below lateral line to level of pectoral-fin base pale orange to yellowish, connected anteriorly to a pale-yellowish stripe of about pupil to orbit diameter that descends below eye to posterior maxilla; scales on body with red or pale-red margins, forming a row of dark-red spots along dorsal body margin from behind first dorsal fin to behind second dorsal fin; scales on caudal peduncle with pink dots; pupil black, iris red and white; barbels white suffused with pale-reddish along proximal two thirds and pale-yellowish towards tip; first dorsal fin with mostly pale-red spines and partly red, partly hyaline interspaces; second dorsal fin basally red and distally yellow, longitudinally traversed by white-bluish lining along distal third of fin; caudal fin red at base and lower fin lobe with red ventral margin; upper caudal-fin lobe dorsal margin proximally pale red, then pale orange and yellowish towards fin tip; inner part of caudal-fin lobes pale yellow with yellow fin rays; pectoral fins pale-red with some red patches close to base; pelvic fins pale-red with red spine and rays; anal fin pale red at base, the distal two-thirds of fin longitudinally traversed by alternating yellowish and bluish-white lining; preserved fish pale brown or brown.
Distribution and size
Mariana Islands, Guam; 120-230 m depth; attains 23 cm SL.
Remarks
Only the HT and two PTs known, two of them documented by fresh-colour photographs.
description: Published as part of Uiblein, Franz, 2021, Taxonomic review of the " posteli-species group " of goatfishes (genus Parupeneus, Mullidae), with description of a new species from the northern Red Sea, pp. 63-77 in Cybium 45 (1) on page 72, DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2021-451-008, http://zenodo.org/record/10493568