Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 04 Jun 2008

A New Species of Epibulus (Perciformes: Labridae) from the West Pacific

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Page Range: 476 – 483
DOI: 10.1643/CI-07-085
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Abstract

A new species of slingjaw wrasse, Epibulus brevis, is described from the tropical West Pacific. It is very similar to the common and wide-ranging E. insidiator, differing in the relatively drab coloration of the male, the presence of prominent black pigment on the pectoral fins of most females, smaller size, slightly longer pectoral fins, and genetically as determined by mitochondrial DNA analysis. It lives in more protected inshore waters than E. insidiator.

Copyright: 2008 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Fig. 1
Fig. 1

Specimens of Epibulus brevis. (A) Holotype, BPBM 31438, 92 mm SL, Palau; (B) maturing female, BPBM 31382, 70 mm SL, Palau; (C) male, BPBM 31342, 156 mm SL, Palau; (D) female, Sulawesi; (E) female, Solomon Islands; (F) female, Indonesia; (G) male, Solomon Islands; (H) male, Sulawesi. Photos (A–D, H) by JER; (E, G) by Marjorie L. Awai; (F) by Scott W. Michael.

Fig. 2
Fig. 2

Spawning of Epibulus brevis in Palau. (A) Male before spawning; (B) near peak of spawning; (C) pair returning to bottom (note color changes from A to B and C). Photos by Patrick L. Colin.

Contributor Notes

Associate Editor: D. Buth.

1 Georgia Aquarium, 225 Baker Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30313, E-mail: bcarlson@georgiaaquarium.org. Send reprint requests to this address.
2 Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0916, E-mail: jackr@hawaii.rr.com.
3 School of Natural Sciences, University of California, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, California 95343, E-mail: mdawson@ucmerced.edu.
Received: 07 Apr 2007
Accepted: 24 Oct 2007
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