Rhomboid Sweeper

Pempheris rhomboidea

Pempheris rhomboidea vs P. nesogallica The third species reported from the Red Sea by Koeda et al. (2014), Pempheris nesogallica, was described from Mauritius by Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831. No DNA sequences are assigned to the species by Koeda et al. (2014). Nevertheless, they distinguish it from P. rhomboidea (their Red Sea “ P. mangula ”) arbitrarily by smaller eye size and the lack of stripes. They write, “Of two existing syntypes of P. nesogallica from Mauritius, one is designated as the lectotype, the other is re-identified as P. mangula; P. nesogallica is presently known only from the southern Red Sea” (the “only” must refer to ostensible range within the Red Sea itself). Randall D. Mooi examined the two syntypes of P. nesogallica and found them remarkably similar (as may also be seen in Fig. 6 of Koeda et al. (2014)). All the meristic data are the same, or at most one count different. In their key, Koeda et al. (2014) distinguish Pempheris rhomboidea (their “ P. mangula ”) from P. nesogallica by two characters. The first is eye diameter: 13.0–15.3% SL for “ P. mangula ” and 11.6–12.8% for P. nesogallica . We invite the reader to measure the eye diameter as a p

Rebuttal to Koeda et al. (2014) on the Red Sea fishes of the perciform genus Pempheris

distribution

Distribution. Red Sea, northwestern Indian Ocean: Socotra; Mediterranean Sea (Red Sea immigrant). Conservation. IUCN: Global (NE). Capture and threats: Unknown. Occurrence: Very common. Non-indigenous species, no conservation action needed.

The marine ichthyofauna of Lebanon: an annotated checklist, history, biogeography, and conservation status

Introduced species vector dispersal

Lebanese part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin (Marine Region) Canals: natural range expansion through man-made canals (Suez Canal)

World Register of Introduced Marine Species (WRiMS)

Introduced species vector dispersal

Israeli part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin (Marine Region) Canals: natural range expansion through man-made canals (Suez Canal)

World Register of Introduced Marine Species (WRiMS)