Liopropoma randalli White, 2012, n. sp.
Creators: name: White, William T.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Perciformes
Serranidae
Liopropoma
Liopropoma randalli

description: Liopropoma randalli n. sp.
Figs 1–3; Table 1
Holotype. CMFRI GB. 31. 139. 31. 1, 112 mm SL, Kochi Fisheries Harbor, Kerala State, gillnetted off Mangalore, southwestern India, Arabian Sea, collected by K.V. Akhilesh & K.K. Bineesh, 12 Oct. 2010, NCBI GenBank Accession number: JF505293.
Paratypes. 3 specimens: CMFRI GB. 31. 139. 31. 1. 1, 132 mm SL, collected with holotype, NCBI GenBank Accession number: JF505292; CSIRO H 7218–02, 113 mm SL, Tanjung Luar fish landing site, Lombok, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (08°45' S, 116°35' E), collected by W. White and Dharmadi, 26 Jan. 2011; MZB LM 648, 92 mm SL, Tanjung Luar fish landing site, Lombok, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (08°45' S, 116°35' E), collected by W. White and Dharmadi, 0 4 Nov. 2010.
Diagnosis. Dorsal fin rays VIII, 12; anal fin rays III, 8; pectoral-fin rays 14 or 15; lateral line scales 46–49; dorsal fin continuous with eighth dorsal spine slightly longer than sixth and seventh spines; anterior nostril at front of snout; longest dorsal soft ray 2.1–2.3 in head length; 1st anal-fin spine 10.4–12.2 in head length, 2nd anal-fin spine 4.4–4.9 in head length; pelvic fin relatively short, 5.1–5.7 in SL; body depth 3.2–3.6 in SL; pinkish red with a blackish stripe extending from snout along midlateral body and on to centre of caudal-fin base, numerous blackish semicircular spots on back, lower sides and soft dorsal and caudal fins.
Description. Dorsal rays VIII, 12 (last ray divided to base); anal rays III, 8; pectoral rays 14 (14–15); pelvic rays I, 5; lateral-line scales about 47 (46–49), plus at least 3 pored scales beyond end of hypural; scales above lateral line to origin of dorsal fin about 4; scales below lateral line to origin of anal fin about 18; circumpeduncular scales about 36 (some scales missing in some types, thus counts not possible on some types); 1–2 (4 as rudiments) + 12–13 (4–5 as rudiments) gill rakers on the first arch (total 17–19); vertebrae 10 + 14.
Body moderately elongate, depth at dorsal-fin origin 3.2 (3.3–3.6) in SL; body moderately compressed, width 1.9 (1.7–1.8) in body depth; head long, its length 2.3 (2.3–2.6) in SL; snout long, 4.1 (4.2–4.3) in head length; eyes moderate in size, orbit diameter 5.5 (4.7–6.1) in head length; interorbital space flat, least width 5.6 (5.5–5.7) in head length; caudal peduncle length 2.4 (2.2–2.4) in head length.
Paratypes All types Mouth terminal, large, maxilla extending posteriorly to vertical through posterior third of eye, upper-jaw length 2.3 (2.3–2.4) in head length; mouth oblique, lower jaw projecting; teeth in jaws and on palate small, depressible inward, in villiform bands; bands of teeth broadest anteriorly in jaws with a maximum of about 10 irregular rows in upper jaw and about 8 in lower jaw; inner teeth progressively larger; villiform teeth on vomer in a chevron–shaped patch of about 4 or 5 rows, the inner teeth larger; teeth on palatines in a long narrow band with about 6 rows at widest; tongue slender, its tip rounded.
Opercle with three flat spines; upper spine blunt, covered by a scale, more anterior to other two; middle spine vertical with and closer to lower spine than upper spine; preopercular margin broadly rounded at corner; posterior margin of preopercle very finely serrate (more so on lower portion); margin of corner and lower limb of preopercle thin and fleshy.
Anterior nostril a thin membranous tube set directly in front of eye at edge of groove separating front of snout from upper lip; posterior nostril with a low fleshy rim, above centre of eye, separated from edge of orbit by a distance equal to about a third to half the space between nostrils; a large pore anteromedially to each posterior nostril and usually a pore anterodistally to each posterior nostril; a large pore medial to each anterior nostril at edge of groove separating front of snout from upper lip; a pair of relatively small pores usually present on interorbital space (on each side above front of pupil).
Lateral line strongly arched above pectoral region, 3 rows of scales between the highest point (below fifth dorsal-fin spine) and the lateral line.
Head fully scaled except lips; maxilla with or without scales; about 10 diagonal rows of scales from edge of orbit to corner of preopercle (many scales missing in preserved specimens so difficult to make accurate count); small scales extending about one-third distance to margin of soft dorsal and anal fins and most length of caudal fin; paired fins with small scales basally.
Dorsal fin continuous and deeply notched; dorsal-fin origin above seventh lateral-line scale; first dorsal-fin spine slender and short, 2.6 (2.4–3.2) in second spine, 11.00 (10–10.8) in head length; third dorsal spine longest, 3.7 (3.3–3.6) in head length; sixth dorsal spine shortest; eighth dorsal spine slightly longer than seventh spine; longest dorsal fin ray (seventh or eighth) 2.2 (2.1–2.3) in head length; origin of anal fin beneath base of third dorsal-fin soft ray; third anal-fin spine longer than second, 4.5 (3.7–4.5) in head length; longest anal soft ray (third) 2.2 (2.1–2.3) in head length; caudal fin emarginate, 1.8 (1.6–1.8) in head length, tips pointed; pectoral fins long, pointed, reaching to a vertical at anal-fin origin, 1.5 (1.3–1.6) in head length; origin of pelvic fins slightly anterior to base of pectoral fins, longest pelvic ray 2.2 (2.1–2.3) in head length.
Coloration. When fresh: ground colour of head and body pinkish red; a yellowish to dark greenish brown stripe extending from snout, through centre of eye to edge of opercle, continuing as a blackish stripe slightly above the lateral midline of body to the base of caudal fin, with a blackish blotch on basal third of central caudal fin; scattered dark brown to black semicircular spots present along back and on sides below dark stripe, several sometimes present on upper head and on opercle; a narrow yellow stripe below eye across distal part of maxilla to just posterior to eye (about horizontal when mouth closed); rim of orbit usually bright yellow; dorsal fin mostly pinkish with scattered small blackish spots on soft portion, and a yellowish bar on outer soft portion between about 4th and 6th soft rays; caudal fin pinkish red, upper and lower margins yellow, scattered small blackish spots centrally; anal fin pinkish with a broad yellow bar originating at base of first spine and extending to distal parts of 4th or 5th soft ray, without spots; pectoral fins pinkish red, without spots; pelvic fins pale pinkish, without spots. In preservative: head, body and fins pale; dark stripe on sides from snout to caudal fin and scattered dark spots on body and fins still distinct (Fig. 2).
Distribution. Known from off the southwest coast of India in the Arabian Sea, at depths of 170–260 m, and off the island of Lombok in eastern Indonesia (Fig. 3).
Etymology. The species is named in honour of John E. Randall, in recognition of his contribution to the taxonomy of tropical marine fishes and more specifically his contribution to the taxonomy of Liopropoma. Proposed vernacular name: Indian basslet.
Comparisons. Liopropoma randalli is distinguished from all other described species of Liopropoma by a combination of color pattern, meristics and morphometrics. Amongst the Indo-West Pacific species of Liopropoma, L. randalli is readily distinguished from L. africanum, L. collettei Randall & Taylor, 1988, L. flavidum Randall & Taylor, 1988, L. mitratum, L. multilineatum, L. pallidum (Fowler, 1938), L. susumi and L. tonstrinum in having a continuous dorsal fin (although deeply notched) vs. a divided dorsal fin with seventh and eighth spines not joined to rest of dorsal fin by a membrane.
Liopropoma randalli is distinguished from L. aurora (Jordan & Evermann, 1903) and L. latifasciatum (Tanaka, 1922) in possessing 12 vs. 13 dorsal soft rays and 8 vs. 9 anal soft rays (Randall & Taylor, 1988). Similarly, Liopropoma japonicum (Döderlein in Steindachner, 1883) is readily distinguished from L. randalli in possessing 10 vs. 8 anal-fin soft rays and 14 vs. 12 dorsal-fin soft rays (Randall & Taylor, 1988). Liopropoma maculatum (Döderlein in Steindachner, 1883) is also readily distinguished in having a much higher number of lateral-line scales (61–66) compared to the new species (46–49). Liopropoma erythraeum Randall & Taylor, 1988 and L. dorsoluteum are distinguished from L. randalli in having the anterior nostril about the same distance from the upper lip than from the posterior nostril (vs. at the front of the snout) and in having the eighth spine shorter than the sixth and seventh spines (vs. the eighth spine longer than the sixth and seventh spines) (Randall & Taylor, 1988; Kon et al., 1999). Liopropoma incomptum Randall & Taylor, 1988 and L. aragai Randall & Taylor, 1988 can be easily separated from the new species in colour pattern with the former two species lacking any dark markings on the head, body or fins vs. a dark midlateral stripe and numerous semicircular dark spots. Similarly, L. swalesi (Fowler & Bean, 1930) also differs markedly in colour in having 6 or 7 dark stripes on the sides and a prominent dark ocellus in the soft portions of the dorsal and anal fins vs. a single dark midlateral stripe and no ocelli on the fins in L. randalli.
Liopropoma randalli is similar to L. lunulatum, a widely distributed Indo-West Pacific species, which also has blackish semicircular-shaped spots on the body and sometimes on the fins. The new species differs from L. lunulatum in having a blackish midlateral stripe (vs. no dark stripes on sides), which extends from the snout (vs. a yellow stripe from the snout to the opercle and occasionally onto anterior portion of the body) to the base of the caudal fin, a shallower body (depth 3.2–3.6 vs. 2.9–3.3 in SL), and in having a shorter soft dorsal fin (longest dorsal fin ray 2.1–2.3 vs. 1.9–2.1 in head length), longest dorsal spine (third) is 3.3–3.7 (vs. 2.9–3.5 in HL in L.lunulatum), snout length 4.1–4.3 in head length (vs. 3.5–3.8 in HL in L.lunulatum) (Randall & Taylor, 1988; based on 8 specimens 125–187 mm SL). Although based on only small sample sizes at present, Liopropoma randalli and L. lunulatum also differ in the structure of the CO1 gene, with specimens of L. lunulatum from French Polynesia (Moorea Biocode project) differing from L. randalli by 6.5% (www.boldsystems.org).
Liopropoma randalli is most similar to L. lemniscatum from the West Pacific, but is easily distinguished by colour pattern with the new species possessing numerous blackish semicircular spots above and below a blackish midlateral stripe vs. a dark brownish midlateral stripe and without small blackish spots on the body or fins (Fig. 4). The new species also differs from L. lemniscatum in the following characters: 1st anal-fin spine length 10.4–12.2 vs. 8.2–8.3 in head length; 2nd anal-fin spine length 4.4–4.9 vs. 3.8–4.0 in head length; caudal fin length 4.1–4.4 vs. 3.7 in SL; and pelvic-fin length 5.1–5.7 vs. 4.7–5.0 in SL.
A third Liopropoma specimen collected at the Tanjung Luar fish landing site in Lombok, Indonesia, was identified as L. dorsoluteum (Fig. 5). This specimen is a new distributional record for this species, which has previously only been recorded from Japan and Taiwan (Kon et al., 1999).
description: Published as part of White, William T., 2012, Liopropoma randalli, a new serranid (Teleostei: Perciformes) fish from the Indian Ocean, pp. 43-50 in Zootaxa 3439 on pages 44-49, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.212109