Pseudanthias oumati Williams, Delrieu-Trottin & Planes, 2013, new species

Pseudanthias oumati, new species

Common Name: Saffron anthias (Fig. 9)

Holotype. USNM 409433; female; 57.6 mm SL; French Polynesia, Marquesas Islands, Fatu Hiva, south of Baie Hanavave (Baie des Vierges) at tip of Pointe Matautu, on sloping deep reef terrace at bottom of steep rock wall; field number MARQ- 2011-32; tissue voucher number MARQ-433; decimal latitude -10.4715, decimal longitude - 138.6779; depth 50–55 m; collected by spear, collector Serge Planes; 10 Nov. 2011; vessel “Braveheart.”

Diagnosis. Dorsal rays X,16; third dorsal spine elongate and tipped with fleshy yellow filament extending beyond tip of spine; anal rays III, 7; pectoral rays 18; lateral-line scales 43; gill rakers 10 + 28; body depth 2.5 in SL; head length 3.3 in SL; no papillae on posterior edge of orbit; 5 serrae on margin of subopercle and 5 on interopercle; snout length 4.5 in HL; front of upper lip not thickened (male condition unknown); bony interorbital width 3.8 in HL; caudal fin lunate, caudal concavity 3.5 in SL; color of female yellow, all fins yellow with narrow magenta margin (except pectoral fin, which lacks magenta); no stripe from snout to pectoral base; small scales located on basal quarter of soft dorsal fin from segmented rays 1–12; dorsal profile of head slightly concave.

Description. Dorsal rays X,16 (spines1–6 with fleshy filaments, spine 3 longest and with longest fleshy filament; 12th segmented ray with filamentous extension); anal rays III,7 (4th segmented ray with filamentous extension); pectoral rays 18 (upper 2 unbranched; lanceolate shaped with middle rays longest and reaching vertical from anal-fin origin when appressed); pelvic rays I,5; principle caudal rays 8 + 7, middle 13 branched (lunate shaped with filamentous dorsal and ventral lobes); upper-lower procurrent rays 9–9 (posteriormost 3 segmented); LL with 43 tubed scales (left side with last tubed scale at base of caudal fin; right side with 2 additional tubed scales on caudal fin beyond base); scales above first LL scale to base of third dorsal spine 5; scales above LL to base of middle dorsal spines 3; scales below LL to origin of anal fin 16; circumpeduncular scales 27; gill rakers 10 + 28, total rakers 38; pseudobranchial lamellae 14; branchiostegal rays 7; vertebrae 10+16; supraneurals 3; supraneural-dorsal ray-pterygiophore-neural spine interdigitation pattern 0/0+0/2/1+1/1/1/1/1/1/2/1/1+1/1+1/1/1/ 1+1/1/1+1/1/1+1.

Body moderately deep for genus, body depth 2.5 in SL, and laterally compressed, its width 2.5 in body depth; head length 3.3 in SL; snout length 4.5 in HL, front of upper lip not thickened (male condition unknown); orbit diameter 3.1 in HL; bony interorbital width 3.8 in HL; maxillary length 2.0 in HL; caudal peduncle depth 2.1 in HL; caudal peduncle length 2.9 in HL; predorsal length 3.3 in SL; dorsal spine 3 longest, 1.6 in HL; preanal length 1.5 in SL; anal spine II longest, 1.7 in HL; pectoral-fin length 1.0 in HL, middle rays longest; prepelvic length 2.09 in SL; pelvic-spine length 1,7 in HL; longest pelvic ray 1.1 in HL; caudal fin lunate, its length 2.1 in SL; caudal-fin concavity 1.1 in HL.

Mouth oblique, moderately large, maxilla scaled, reaching to below posterior half of eye; lower jaw barely projecting; posterior edge of maxilla truncate with upper half smooth, lower half weakly crenulate; no supramaxilla; upper jaw with 1–2 widely separated, slightly enlarged canines directed ventrally on each side of upper jaw at front of mouth, followed laterally by row of smaller canines with posteriormost teeth somewhat forward pointing, interior band of about three irregular rows of tiny inward projecting conical teeth; roof of mouth anterior to vomer with two large recumbent recurved canines directed medially toward vomer; vomer with somewhat triangular patch of tiny conical teeth; palatines with 1–2 irregular rows of tiny conical teeth; lower jaw with widely separated pair of stout canines projecting anterolaterally and projecting outside gape when mouth is closed (exposed outside upper lip), large recurved canine inside mouth about one-third distance from symphysis preceded by band of villiform teeth and followed on each side by single row of smaller slender canines pointed interiorly; tongue slender and sharply pointed.

No papillae on posterior border of orbit; anterior nostril with short membranous tube above upper lip, tube almost reaching posterior nostril when appressed; posterior nostril a somewhat oblong opening covered anteriorly by a thin, narrow membrane, positioned at about middle of anterior border of eye.

Opercle with three flat spines, lower two stout and acute, upper short with rounded tip; middle opercular spine largest and at level of center of eye; vertical margin of preopercle with 20 small serrae, largest at angle of preopercle, left side with one tiny serra on ventral base of large serra at angle, right side with one serra on ventral margin of preopercle, remainder of ventral margin of preopercle smooth; margin of subopercle with 5 serrae; margin of interopercle with 5 serrae.

Scales ctenoid on head and body, some head scales with auxiliary scales, no auxiliary scales on body; head scaled except lips, small area around nostrils and isthmus, cheek with 8 rows of scales; no scales basally on spinous dorsal and anal fins, small scales on basal quarter of segmented dorsal and anal fins; small scales cover basal half of caudal fin; small scales cover basal third of pectoral fin; small scales cover basal half of pelvic fin; midventral rectangular scaly process at base of pelvic fins extending posteriorly between fins for distance equal to about onequarter length of fins.

Color of freshly collected holotype (Fig. 9): head and body yellow, scales on dorsal half of body with greenish yellow centers, scales on ventral half of head and body outlined with orangish-yellow; tip of snout orangish yellow; dorsal fin yellow, tips of spines 5–10 magenta, distal margin of soft dorsal with narrow magenta margin; caudal fin yellow with magenta dorsal and ventral margins, anal fin yellow with magenta margin; pelvic fins yellow with magenta anterior margin; pectoral fins yellow; orbit with narrow yellow border, iris yellow with broken outer magenta ring.

Color in alcohol: head and body pale with tan centered scales, fins translucent.

Etymology. The specific epithet oumati is the Marquesan word for sun and refers to the brilliant yellow color of its body and fins. The name is treated as a noun in apposition. The common name, Saffron anthias, refers to its bright yellow color.

Remarks. In the Marquesas Islands, Pseudanthias oumati is easily distinguished from other Pseudanthias, Ps. hiva (Fig. 10) and Ps. regalis (Figs. 11–12), by its brilliant yellow body and fins. The holotype was the largest specimen of a group of 5–6 similarly colored individuals found shoaling together on a deep reef within a meter of the bottom. Pseudanthias oumati is currently known only from 50–55 meters on a deep rocky reef at Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. It is likely to occur on other deep-reef habitats throughout the Marquesas Islands and it may be restricted to the Marquesas Islands. It has not been found at other French Polynesian islands, but the deep reefs have not been thoroughly surveyed.

In having an elongate third dorsal spine, lunate caudal fin and a relatively low lateral-line scale count, Pseudanthias oumati is similar to Ps. pulcherrimus (Heemstra & Randall, 1986) from the Indian Ocean, Ps. mica Allen & Erdmann, 2012, from Indonesia, and Ps. randalli (Lubbock & Allen, 1978) from the western Pacific. The female Ps. oumati differs from female Ps. pulcherrimus in having yellow tipped fleshy filaments on the anterior dorsal spines (versus magenta), yellow body and fins (versus body, pelvic and anal fins pink), lower limb gill rakers 28 (versus 23–27), and body depth 2.5 in SL (versus 2.9–3.0). Pseudanthias oumati differs from Ps. mica in lacking a stripe from snout to pectoral-fin base (versus magenta stripe present), having 43 LL scales (versus 36– 38), and lower limb gill rakers 28 (versus 20–24). Pseudanthias oumati differs from Ps. randalli in having 43 LL scales (versus 45–50), and lower limb gill rakers 28 (versus 22–24).

Pseudanthias huchtii (Bleeker, 1757) and Ps. squamipinnis (Peters, 1855) also have an elongate third dorsal spine, lunate caudal fin and a relatively low LL scale count, but these both have a distinct stripe from snout to pectoral-fin base and 26 or fewer lower limb gill rakers (versus no stripe and 28 rakers for Ps. oumati). Pseudanthias huchtii and Ps. squamipinnis are found on relatively shallow reefs at depths of 2–20 m, rather than on the deep reefs inhabited by Ps. oumati.

We obtained COI sequences for 19 of the 66 described species of Pseudanthias (Table 1). Preliminary results are presented (Fig. 13) from a molecular analysis that includes all Polynesian species of Pseudanthias and the hypothesized (based on color pattern and morphological characters) closest relatives of Pseudanthias oumati. Our mtDNA analysis places Ps. oumati as a genetically distinct lineage that groups with Ps. pulcherrimus, Ps. mica and Ps. randalli in a more inclusive lineage that is distinct from other Pseudanthias (Fig. 13).