Richard Winterbottom

A new genus and two new species of gobiid fishes (Perciformes) from the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean

SynopsisA recent (1979) expedition to the Chagos Archipelago resulted in the collection of about 40 new taxa of fishes. A new genus,Trimmatom, and two new species,T. nanus andT. offucius, are described here. The new genus is characterized by having all pelvic-fin rays simple (unbranched), a scaleless body, no head pores, a wide gill opening extending anteroventrally to below the eye, and hypurals 1 and 2 fused to the complex formed by the fusion of the ural centrum and hypurals 3 and 4.T. nanuss andT. offucius are differentiated on the basis of fin ray counts and colour pattern.T. nanus is the smallest vertebrate yet to be described. Mature females with ovaries full of eggs are 8–10 mm in standard length.

A cornucopia of cryptic species - a DNA barcode analysis of the gobiid fish genus Trimma (Percomorpha, Gobiiformes).

Abstract A genetic analysis of partial mitochondrial 5’ cytochrome c oxidase I gene (DNA barcode) sequences of 473 specimens assigned to 52 morphological species (including four known, but not formally named, species) of the gobiid genus Trimma revealed the presence of 94 genetic lineages. Each lineage was separated by > 2% sequence divergence. Thus there were an additional 42 haplogroups recognizable as provisional candidate species given that a value of > 2% difference is typical of different species of fishes. Such a high degree of apparently different cryptic species is, in our experience, virtually unprecedented among vertebrates. These results have precipitated further morphological research in a few cases, which has uncovered subtle differences independently corroborating the genetic results. However, such efforts are limited by the dearth of traditional systematists available to undertake the necessary time-consuming, and highly detailed, morphological research. In some cases, the genetic results we present are consistent with, and confirm, minor taxonomic distinctions based on morphology and/or colour pattern. In other instances, what had been recognized as a single species consists of several genetic lineages - up to eight in, for example, what we have identified based on morphology as Trimma okinawae. The increase from 52 to 94 potential species in our sampling raises the predicted total number of species in this genus from about 110 to nearly 200 (versus the 73 valid described species currently recognized).

Phylogenetic Relationships of Aracanin Genera of Boxfishes (Ostraciidae: Tetraodontiformes)

A cladistic analysis of the external characters, osteology and myology of the seven genera currently assigned to the ostraciid (trunkfishes and boxfishes) subfamily Aracaninae (boxfishes) results in our proposal of its division into two tribes, the Aracanini (Aracana, Strophiurichthys, Anoplocapros, Caprichthys and Capropygia) and the Kentrocaprini (Kentrocapros and Polyplacapros). In the case of the Aracanini, the phylogeny can be derived from the classification either from sequencing or from the numerical suffix method. Evidence is presented which corroborates the hypotheses that: a) the Aracaninae is monophyletic; b) the Ostraciinae is monophyletic; c) the Aracaninae and Ostraciinae are sister groups (the Ostraciidae); d) the Balistidae is monophyletic; and e) the Balistidae and Ostraciidae are sister groups.

Osteological evidence for the phylogeny of recent genera of surgeonfishes (Percomorpha, Acanthuridae)

A study of the osteology of the Acanthuridae (surgeonfishes) and a cladistic analysis of the 42 osteological and external characters resulted in a well-corroborated hypothesis (consistency index = 0.96) of the phylogenetic relationship of the six recognized acanthurid genera. Removal of autapomorphies for terminal taxa resulted in a data matrix of 20 characters, consistency index of 0.91, and the same phylogeny. Character polarity was determined using the outgroup method. Zanclus, Luvarus, and the Siganidae were selected as the first, second, and third outgroups, respectively. Evidence is presented to support the following hypotheses: (1) Acanthurids form a monophyletic group; (2) Naso is monophyletic; (3) Prionurus + Zebrasoma + Paracanthurus + Acanthurus + Ctenochaetus form a monophyletic group with Naso as its sister group; (4) Prionurus may or may not be monophyletic; (5) Zebrasoma + Paracanthurus + Acanthurus + Ctenochaetus form a monophyletic group; (6) Zebrasoma is monophyletic; (7) Paracanthurus is monophyletic; (8) Zebrasoma and Paracanthurus are sister groups; (9) Acanthurus and Ctenochaetus form a monophyletic group; (10) Zebrasoma + Paracanthurus form the sister group of Acanthurus + Ctenochaetus; (11) Acanthurus may or may not be monophyletic; (12) Ctenochaetus is monophyletic. The monophyly of Acanthurus is questioned. Evidence is presented that suggests that Acanthurus nigroris may be more closely related to Ctenochaetus than to the other eight species of Acanthurus examined.

Gobiodon prolixus, a new species of gobiid fish (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the Indo-west Pacific

ABSTRACT A new species of coral-dwelling gobiid, Gobiodon prolixus, is described on the basis of material from scattered localities in the Indo-west Pacific (Comores, Rodrigues, Chagos, Thailand, Vietnam, Ponape, Tonga, Rapa, and Tuamotu). Gobiodon prolixus is distinguished from congeners by its unique, more elongate body shape in combination with five narrow blue bars on the lateral surfaces of the head. That pigmentation pattern is otherwise found in G. quinquestrigatus and G. rivulatus, species with which the new species has been confused in the past.

A review of the morphology and relationships of the Oligocene spikefish generaAcanthopleurus Agassiz 1844 andCryptobalistes Tyler 1968 (Tetraodontiformes: Triacanthidae)

KurzfassungEs wird gezeigt, daßCryptobalistes brevis (Rath 1859) aus dem Unteroligozän des Kantons Glarus (Schweiz), der bisher als incertae sedis innerhalb der triacanthoiden Tetraodontiformes klassifiziert wurde, zu den Triacanthiden gestellt werden kann. Die Art wird erneut beschrieben und mit den einzigen anderen fossilen Triacanthiden verglichen, nämlich den zwei Arten von Acanthopleurus (ebenfalls aus dem Kanton Glarus). Außerdem wird sie mit den sieben rezenten Arten verglichen, die zu vier Gattungen gehören. Alle diese Triacanthiden haben fünf gemeinsame abgeleitete Merkmale. Die vier rezenten Gattungen gehören zu einer monophyletischen Gruppe, die ebenfalls durch fünf Synapomorphien gekennzeichnet ist.Cryptobalistes undAcanthopleurus stehen in einer nicht aufgelösten Trichotomie mit dieser Gruppe. Für alle drei fossilen Arten werden zeichnerische Rekonstruktionen angeboten.AbstractA fish from the early Oligocene (Rupelian) of Canton Glarus, Switzerland,Cryptobalistes brevis (Rath 1859), until now placed incertae sedis among triacanthoid tetraodontiforms, is shown to be a triacanthid. It is redescribed and compared with the only other known fossil triacanthids, these being the two species ofAcanthopleurus, also from Canton Glarus, and with the seven Recent species of four genera. All of these triacanthids share five derived features. The four Recent genera are in a clade defined by five synapomorphies, andCryptobalistes andAcanthopleurus form an unresolved trichotomy with that clade. Reconstructions of the three fossil species are provided.

Paraxenisthmus cerberusi, a New Species of Xenisthmid Fish from Palau (Percomorpha: Gobioidei)

Abstract Paraxenisthmus cerberusi, described from four specimens from Augulpelu Reef, Palau, differs from its only congener (P. springeri from the Solomon Islands) in the following characteristics: pectoral fin rays 15–16 (vs. 18); posterior nasal (B) and ventral preopercular (Q′) cephalic lateralis pores absent (vs. present); head, nape, ventral abdomen, and dorsal midline of caudal peduncle naked (vs. scaled); and caudal peduncle with large black blotch (vs. no black blotch).

Dannie Alan Hensley (1944–2008)

O N 8 May 2008, DANNIE ALAN HENSLEY passed away from complications caused by respiratory failure at Hospital de la Concepción, San Germán, Puerto Rico. Dannie had been a faculty member at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, for 28 years where he served as Assistant Professor from 1980–1984, Associate Professor from 1984–1991, and was promoted to Full Professor in 1991. Dannie was born in Upland, California, on 24 October 1944. His father was a Colonel with the U.S. Air Force toward the end of World War II. As a result, Dannie moved in his earliest years to other locations that included Libya and, later, Japan. He made many young friends in Libya, and longed to return there for future visits. His father was later stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and afterward in Hawaii. Dannie must have seen lots of ocean beneath him during those flights and wondered what lay below the surface. Dannie appeared to be a complex and private person to many he met for the first time. Those of us who were fortunate enough get to know and work with him discovered a wonderful person who was truly dedicated to the study of fishes. Add to this his dedication to make certain he had the format correct before submitting a manuscript to any journal. One can only wish that more authors shared this trait. In social circles when he felt relaxed, he had a sense of humor that never seemed to cease. His wide smile will never be forgotten by all that truly knew him. Dannie’s dry wit, acute observations of things natural (including people), and his broad knowledge of ichthyological matters endured him to many of us. One of us (RW) vividly recalls meeting Dannie for the first time at the first Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in Sydney, Australia (1981). On the postconference field trip to Lizard Island, Dannie asked rather puckishly why RW was madly photographing every different species of fish he could lay his hands on when ‘‘Jack Randall is doing that for all of us already.’’ The reply of ‘‘For ‘posteriority, since that fits my last name’’ was treated with hilarity by Dannie, and was the start of a treasured friendship, sharing jokes, beers, and the occasional intelligent conversation at many meetings thereafter. Dannie would phone Canada from Puerto Rico a couple of times a year just to chat for an hour or so. On a couple of occasions, he asked to borrow slides of flatfishes, and this was always the time to recap with nostalgic pleasure those early days at Lizard. He often called Victor G. Springer at the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., to discuss matters regarding procedures with his taxonomic work. Dannie began his higher education at San Bernardino Valley College, a community college, where he completed his first two years of higher education. He took a year off at Wake Island, North Pacific Ocean, prior to graduating with honors in 1966. That was a very formative year for Dannie’s future that resulted in his first publication in 1965. Dannie subsequently enrolled at California State University, Fullerton, where he and his advisor, David W. Greenfield (only four years older than Dannie), had two papers (one with other authors) published in Copeia in 1970. During his years at Fullerton, he and Dave Greenfield drove into Mexico with other graduate students (Jim Wiley and Steve Ross) to collect fishes for a paper published in Copeia in 1970. Dave Greenfield said that Dannie knew he wanted to be an ichthyologist. Dannie also served as a teaching assistant and, for one summer, as a field ecologist with the University of California, Los Angeles. From 1974 through 1978, Dannie was an ichthyologist with the Marine Research Laboratory of the Florida Department of Natural Resources, now a division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in St. Petersburg. For much of that time, he studied toward his Ph.D. at the University of South Florida under John C. (Jack) Briggs’ guidance. Before and during that part of his life, he also served as an instructor teaching biology and other sciences at several central-west Florida regional middle and high schools, Hillsborough Community College, and University of Tampa at their MacDill Extension on the U.S. Air Force Base. Derril Moody, who later became another graduate student of Jack Briggs, was teaching seventh grade at a local school and contacted Dannie and asked him to identify a fish that one of his students had caught in the Little Manatee River. To quote Derril (pers. comm., 2008), when Dannie arrived to examine the fish, ‘‘He wasn’t exactly what I expected. Here was this short guy, red beard, red hair, balding, glasses, and of slender build.’’ The fish was an introduced species, Hoplias malabaricus, with many specimens subsequently captured prior to its demise in Florida as result of the winter freeze of 1977. Later, they both worked together as biologists with the Florida Department of Natural Resources Marine

Review of “Fishes of the World” by Joseph S. Nelson

book appeared. In that period, it has evolved significantly through the three previous editions to this, the fourth edition. Along the way, it has become an iconic and indispensable work in ichthyology, used extensively by laymen, consultants, ecologists, fisheries workers, students and professional ichthyologists – indeed, anyone who wants a quick, up-to-date introduction to any group of fishes and the relevant literature. The book is essentially a distillation of what we currently know or surmise about fish systematics, diversity and evolutionary history, including, as one of its major strengths – and there are many – the inclusion of fossil taxa. The contents are structured around the classification, with each taxon receiving a precis of its more important characteristics, illustrated by numerous simplified outline drawings of representatives of most of the families recognized. In scope, the book covers all the craniates, although, as is obvious from the title, the basal groups and the tetrapods receive token coverage. A complete hierarchy down to the family level (and sometimes to subfamily or even tribe) organizes the material. The numbers of genera for each level is listed, along with estimates of the number of extant species, distribution and major habitat (e.g. marine, freshwater). Sometimes, little tidbits of ecological, behavioural or other information help to enliven the text, and remind us that we are dealing with real organisms. Treatment of individual families and their constituents is, of necessity, not uniform. For example, each of the four genera of notopterids merits a couple of sentences under its own heading, but fewer than half the 112 genera of cichlids are named (I confess, however, that I prefer this treatment – it would be tedious to have to wade through the names of that number of cichlid genera). There were one or two areas where I felt additional explanations would be useful, for example, we are told that the myxinid dorsal fin is absent and the caudal fin extends onto the dorsal surface. Since the accompanying figure shows that extension reaching anteriorly for nearly one-third of the body length, one wonders why it is not called a dorsal fin (as it is in many other fishes where the two fins are continuous). And perhaps the reader should be warned that certain parts of the text do not follow the conventions of the ICZN – for example, ‘‘One species, Rhamphocottus richardsoni (Mecklenburg 2003)’’ on p. 333 does not mean that the species was described by that author in that year in a genus other than Rhamphocottus. R. Winterbottom (&) Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada e-mail: rickw@rom.on.ca Rev Fish Biol Fisheries (2006) 16:227–228 DOI 10.1007/s11160-006-9004-z

Evolution ofNaso thynnoides and the status ofN. minor (Acanthuridae; Actinopterygii)

Naso minor was described from a single specimen (Smith, 1966). Only one other specimen has since been reported (Randall, 1986). The species apparently differed fromN. thynnoides in the ratio of fork length to head length and eye diameter, the shape of the caudal peduncle spine, and in number of dorsal spines. Collections of 24 specimens of four- and five-spined individuals (putatively assigned to both species) from the Philippines revealed that the first three differences are not valid. However, spine number, the length of the nasal groove, the pigmentation of the basal plate of the caudal peduncle spine, and the morphology of the first dorsal-fin pterygiophore confirm the distinctness of the two species.