A New Stolephorus (Teleostei: Clupeiformes: Engraulidae: Engraulinae) from the Red Sea
The new anchovy Stolephorus meteorum, formerly confused with Stolephorus indicus, is described on the basis of 19 specimens collected from the southern Red Sea. Four other species, previously confused with or placed in the synonymy of S. indicus, have been either redescribed (Stolephorus commersonnii), described as new (Stolephorus belaerius), or resurrected from its synonymy (Stolephorus balinensis and Stolephorus scitulus). The new species shares with the latter four species, plus S. indicus, a relatively short maxilla and pelvic fins, and six or fewer prepelvic scutes but differs from them in the combination of some other characters, including intermediate numbers of gill rakers (total gill rakers on first gill arch 40–43, modally 41), 41 vertebrae, a large head and narrower interorbital area, and longer pelvic fins. A genetic analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) of S. meteorum, new species, S. balinensis, S. belaerius, and S. indicus revealed each species to be genetically divergent from the others by 2.5–3.6% uncorrected distance.
Stolephorus meteorum, new species, fresh specimens. (A) Holotype, SMF 35899 (tissue sample KAU14-0575), 85 mm SL, off Jizan, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea; (B) paratype, SMF 34979 (tissue sample KAU12-0682), 109.4 mm SL, off Jizan, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea. Photos by S. V. Bogorodsky.
(A) Lateral, (B) dorsal, and (C) ventral views of holotype of Stolephorus meteorum, new species, SMF 35899 (tissue sample KAU14-0575), 85.0 mm SL, Jizan, Saudi Arabia.
Distributional records of Stolephorus meteorum, new species (circles), and S. indicus (triangles). Black and white symbols indicate locations based on morphological examination and solely on molecular evidence, respectively.
Relationships (as % of standard length) of (A) head length, (B) pelvic-fin length, (C) interorbital width, (D) distance between dorsal-fin origin and pectoral-fin insertion (D–P1), (E) postorbital length, (F) distance between insertions of pectoral and pelvic fins (P1–P2), (G) maxilla length, (H) lower-jaw length, and (I) body depth in Stolephorus meteorum, new species (circles), S. balinensis (squares), S. belaerius (diamonds), S. commersonnii (hexagons), S. indicus (triangles), and S. scitulus (inverted triangles).
Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree of Stolephorus meteorum, new species (including the holotype [SMF 35899, tissue sample KAU14-0575] and two paratypes [SMF 34979/KAU12-0682 and SMF 35369/KAU13-0662]), and closely related species, based on the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene (total: 648 base pairs). In this tree, each species forms a monophyletic group. Each specimen identified by either museum registration number followed by in brackets specimen code or COI sequence GenBank number (see text and Table S1 for details; see Data Accessibility). Tree rooted at midpoint. Branch lengths proportional to number of substitutions (scale represents 0.01 substitution/position). Bootstrap proportions indicated only at species-level splits.
Contributor Notes
Associate Editor: T. Grande.