Neoscorpaena Mandrytsa 2001
Creators: name: Matsumoto, Tatsuya
name: Motomura, Hiroyuki
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Scorpaeniformes
Scorpaenidae
Neoscorpaena

description: Neoscorpaena Mandrytsa 2001
Figures 1–3
Neoscorpaena Mandrytsa 2001: 251 (type species: Sebastapistes nielseni Smith 1964; type by original designation, monotypic).
Diagnosis. A genus of the family Scorpaenidae characterized by the following combination of characters: 12 dorsal-fin spines; 4–12 suborbital spines; palatine teeth present; occipital pit and anterior lacrimal spine absent; some pectoral-fin rays branched; swimbladder absent; pored lateral-line scales continuing onto caudal-fin base.
Description. Dorsal fin with 12 spines and 10 (rarely 9) soft rays. Origin of first dorsal-fin spine just above lower posttemporal spine tip. Third or fourth dorsal-fin spine longest, fourth or fifth to eleventh spines progressively shorter; membrane of spinous portion moderately incised. All dorsal-fin soft rays branched; second to fourth soft ray longest; posterior margin of soft-rayed portion of dorsal fin rounded; posterior branch of last soft ray strongly joined by membrane to caudal peduncle. Anal fin with 3 spines and 5 soft rays. Origin of first anal-fin spine just below origin of first dorsal-fin ray; first anal-fin spine shortest, second spine longest; all soft rays branched; first or second soft ray longest; posterior branch of last soft ray not joined by membrane to caudal peduncle; origin of last soft ray just below origin of eighth dorsal-fin soft ray. Pectoral fin with 1 or 2 uppermost and 5 to 9 lowermost rays unbranched, remaining 7 to 11 rays branched; fourteenth or fifteenth ray longest; lower unbranched rays not thickened; posterior margin bilobed. Pelvic fin with 1 spine and 5 soft rays. Origin of pelvic-fin spine just below third dorsal-fin spine base; all soft rays branched; second soft ray longest; last soft ray joined by membrane to abdomen for less than half its length. Gill rakers relatively short, spinous; length of longest raker on first gill arch shorter than that of gill filaments around angle of gill arch. No slit behind fourth gill arch.
Dorsal profile of snout rising gently, forming angle of ca. 40 degrees to horizontal axis of head and body. Body moderately compressed anteriorly, progressively more compressed posteriorly. Body relatively deep, deepest at pelvic-fin base. Posterior margin of opercular membrane reaching vertical through fourth dorsal-fin spine base. Short, broad tentacle, with several short branches distally, on posterior edge of low membranous tube associated with anterior nostril. Tentacles on preocular, supraocular and posterior lacrimal spines; tentacle on supraocular spine large, others minute. Posterior lacrimal spine tentacle linked posteriorly to head by skin. Tentacles absent on eye membrane, anterior margin of lower snout in anterior view, cheek, maxilla, lips, underside of lower jaw, opercle, mid-interorbital space, occiput, and all fin surfaces. Pectoral-fin axil without skin flaps. Well-exposed ctenoid scales covering posterior half of lateral surface of head, including cheek, behind eye, opercle, and area surrounded by parietal, nuchal, pterotic and lower posttemporal spines. No scales on eye membrane. Well-exposed ctenoid scales on lateral surface of trunk, including pectoral- and dorsal-fin soft ray bases. Exposed ctenoid scales covering entire occiput. Body scales not extending onto dorsal-fin spines and rays of pelvic and anal fins. Lateral line sloping steeply downward above anterior half of pectoral fin. Underside of lower jaw with 3 large, well-developed sensory pores on each side, first pore below anterior lacrimal ridge, second pore below nasal spine, third pore on posterior margin of dentary; pores larger than anterior nostril diameter. A pair of small pores behind lower jaw symphysial knob in ventral view.
Mouth large, slightly oblique, forming angle of ca. 25 (15–25) degrees to horizontal axis of head and body. Posterior margin of maxilla beyond vertical through posterior margin of pupil, not reaching posterior margin of orbit. Longitudinal ridge on lateral surface of maxilla absent. Lower jaw with small symphysial knob. Width of symphysial gap separating premaxillary teeth bands slightly greater than width of each band. Upper jaw with band of short, conical teeth; teeth tips pointed. Tooth band of upper jaw slightly narrower than that of lower jaw. Lower jaw with band of villiform teeth; most teeth shorter than those on upper jaw. Small teeth on vomer and palatines. Underside of lower jaw without ridges.
Nasal spine simple, sharp, conical, directed dorsally, its length shorter than posterior nostril diameter.Ascending process of premaxilla not intruding into interorbital space, its posterior margin extending beyond level of anterior margin of posterior nostril in dorsal view, not extending beyond anterior margin of posterior nostril.Median interorbital ridge absent. Interorbital ridges well developed, separated by moderately deep channel, beginning posterior to nasal spines and continuing to tympanic spine base; narrowest distance between ridges directly above anterior margin of pupil. Orbit extending slightly above dorsal profile of head. Preocular spine simple, directed dorsally; tip of spine beyond level with upper margin of pupil in lateral view, flattened anteriorly and posteriorly, anterior surface without median vertical ridge. Supraocular spine simple, its length similar to postocular spine. Postocular spine simple, not strongly canted laterally; base wider than tympanic spine base, not joined to interorbital ridge or tympanic spine base. Tympanic spine simple, strongly pointed, directed dorsoposteriorly, with narrow base; base joined to interorbital ridge but not parietal spine base. Coronal spine absent. Occiput nearly flat, slightly convex centrally, lacking transverse ridge anteriorly or posteriorly to occiput. Occiput surrounded laterally by postocular, tympanic and parietal spines; no ridges on lateral aspects of occiput in dorsal view. Parietal spine absent. Nuchal spine large, originating from posterior end of tympanic spine; its tip strongly pointed. Sphenotic with several small spines. Postorbital without spines. Pterotic spine simple, located below nuchal spine. No distinct ridge on area surrounded by nuchal, pterotic and lower posttemporal spines. Upper posttemporal spine absent. Lower posttemporal spine simple. Supracleithral spine simple, strongly pointed. Cleithral spine flattened, pointed, without median ridge.
Lateral lacrimal spine absent. Anterior lacrimal spine absent. Posterior lacrimal spine simple, directed posteroventrally. Space between ventral margin of eye and suborbital ridge relatively narrow. Suborbital pit absent. Preopercle with five spines; uppermost spine largest, with supplemental preopercular spine on base; second to fifth spines triangular. Preopercle (between uppermost preopercular spine and upper end of preopercle) without serrae or spines. Upper opercular spine simple, without distinct median ridge. Lower opercular spine simple, with distinct median ridge. Space between upper and lower opercular spines without ridges. Posterior tips of upper and lower opercular spines not reaching opercular margin.
Color in fresh specimens (Fig. 1A). Dorsal body and head pale reddish with numerous black and yellow blotches. Pectoral fin base and ventral surface of body whitish. All fins semi-translucent reddish, without blotches, except dorsal-fin membrane (translucent with some yellow or black blotches).
Color in preserved specimens (Fig. 1B). Body and head uniformly pale yellowish with numerous black blotches. All fins semi-translucent whitish, without blotches except dorsal-fin membrane.
Type species. Sebastapistes nielseni Smith 1964.
Included species. The monotypic genus contains only N. nielseni.
Remarks. Mandrytsa (2001) established the genus Neoscorpaena with Sebastapistes nielseni (Smith 1964) as the type species, a species that Eschmeyer (1986) had previously placed in the genus Neomerinthe. Mandrytsa regarded Neoscorpaena as distinguishable from Neomerinthe by its possession of 25 vertebrae instead of 24 and by having hypurals 1 and 2 separated rather than fused. However, Motomura et al. (2015) observed that Neomerinthe forgori (Postel & Roux 1964) exhibits separated hypurals and that some other specimens within Neomerinthe also have 25 vertebrae. These observations led them to suggest that the validity of Neoscorpaena required reexamination.
The molecular phylogenetic analysis provided robust support for the monophyly of Neoscorpaena (Fig. 2). With a bootstrap value of 99%, the analysis clearly distinguishes Neoscorpaena from a clade that includes both Atlantic and Indo-Pacific species of Neomerinthe and the genus Pontinus (Poey 1860).
Neoscorpaena, Neomerinthe, and Idiastion Eschmeyer 1965 are all distinguished from other scorpaenid genera by the following combination of characteristics: 12 dorsal-fin spines; palatine teeth present; occipital pit absent; some pectoral-fin rays branched; and pored lateral-line scales continuing onto caudal-fin base (Ishida & Amaoka 1992; this study). A morphological re-examination of Neoscorpaena and Neomerinthe confirmed that these genera do not differ in vertebral number or hypural shape, as noted by Motomura et al. (2015). Instead, they can be clearly distinguished by other traits; for example, Neoscorpaena is characterized by the absence of an anterior lacrimal spine (Fig. 3). Molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed two distinct lineages within Neomerinthe that correspond to Atlantic and Indo-Pacific species (Fig. 2). Nevertheless, all species of Neomerinthe possessed a spinous anterior lacrimal spine (see Matsumoto & Motomura 2024a: fig. 2, 2024b: fig. 7). In addition, Neoscorpaena is distinguished from Neomerinthe by possessing usually four or more suborbital spines (vs. two or three suborbital spines in Indo-Pacific species of Neomerinthe) (Fig. 3) and lacking a swimbladder, a feature present in Atlantic species of Neomerinthe (see Chen 1981). Neoscorpaena can also be distinguished from all species of Neomerinthe by the absence of a parietal spine, but since this characteristic is considered variable within Phenacoscorpius Fowler 1938, it is not recognized as diagnostic here.
Neoscorpaena also shares morphological characteristics of the head spines and lateral line with Idiastion, including anterior lacrimal spine absent; four or more suborbital spines, and a complete lateral line (Eschmeyer 1965; Ishida & Amaoka 1992; McCosker 2008), but differs by the absence of a swimbladder, a feature present in Idiastion (see Ishida & Amaoka 1992).
Motomura et al. (2011) reported scattered yellow blotches on the fresh body of N. nielseni, a feature that we have confirmed in our study (Fig. 1A). Although this coloration pattern may be unique among Indo-Pacific scorpaenid species, it is not considered diagnostic for Neoscorpaena because the fresh coloration of many related species has not yet been thoroughly documented.
description: Published as part of Matsumoto, Tatsuya & Motomura, Hiroyuki, 2025, Re-establishment of the monotypic genus Neoscorpaena Mandrytsa 2001 (Teleostei: Scorpaenidae), with a range extension of N. nielseni (Smith 1964) to the eastern Indian Ocean, pp. 173-185 in Zootaxa 5633 (1) on pages 176-179, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5633.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/15372683