Opistognathus ensiferus, a new species of jawfish (Opistognathidae) from the Gulf of Mannar, India, with redescription of O. solorensis Bleeker
This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Smith-Vaniz, William F. (2016): Opistognathus ensiferus, a new species of jawfish (Opistognathidae) from the Gulf of Mannar, India, with redescription of O. solorensis Bleeker. Zootaxa 4196 (2): 278-288, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4196.2.6
Abstract
A new species of jawfish, Opistognathus ensiferus n. sp., is described based on a single specimen from Manauli Reef in the Gulf of Mannar, India. It is a member of a species group that also includes Opistognathus solorensis Bleeker (Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Palau) and O. verecundus Smith-Vaniz (northwestern Australia). From these two species O. ensiferus n. sp. differs in lacking dark oral pigmentation, except inner lining of upper jaw and adjacent membranes with a single dark stripe (vs. two stripes) and in having a lateral line ending below the 6th or 7th segmented dorsal-fin ray (vs. below the 1st to 4th ray). Opistognathus solorensis is redescribed and in the absence of extant type specimens a neotype is designated. Two strikingly different color morphs are documented for O. solorensis, including the less common one which is almost entirely yellow.
Key words: Opistognathidae, jawfish, Opistognathus ensiferus new species, India