Threespine Seabass

distribution

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1. — General distribution: Philippines north to Japan, south to New Caledonia. Demersal on the continental slope, 180 – 490 m depth. Marine.

Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records

description

Description. Counts and measurements are summarized in Tables 2 – 7. Snout rounded; interorbital space strongly convex. Posterior edge of maxillary more or less concave with postero-dorsal and postero-ventral angles sharp and postero-ventral angle somewhat extended downward, but positioned on the same level with posterodorsal angle resulting in an almost vertical posterior rim of the maxillary. Preopercular lobe without longitudinal ridges, but denticles of hind margin serration extending onto preopercular lobe; inner edge of preopercle with 2 – 5 long denticles not extending along ventral branch. Three anal-fin spines, second and third spines almost equal in length, but third spine always less stiff than second; in specimens <65 mm SL the third spine sometimes not completely ossified, weak or transitional from soft ray to spine and then not counted as spine. First anal fin pterygiophore long, curved, broadened at tip, hollow, reaching last pair of pleural ribs. First haemal spine with a narrow posterior expansion. Pelvic-fin spine serrated along its outer edge; all other fin spines smooth. About 28 scales along lateral line. Dentition. Premaxillary with a pair of canines near symp

Reappraisal of Synagrops Günther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae)

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Deep-bodied species with convex dorsal head profile. Anal fin III + 6 in specimens> 65 mm SL. Pectoral fin with 16 – 18 rays, pectoral length 21.5 – 27 % SL. Gill rakers 15 – 18. Pseudobranchial filaments 16 – 23, increasing with size. First anal-fin pterygiophore long, slightly forward bent, with very broad tip and hollow. Ectopterygoid with single row of denticles. Orbit diameter 11.7 – 13.3 % SL. Otolith compressed (OL: OH = 1.45 – 1.55).

Reappraisal of Synagrops Günther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae)

discussion

Discussion. This species can be distinguished from all other species of Parascombrops by the presence of three (vs two) anal-fin spines (specimens> 65 mm SL). The development of the third anal-fin spine is a secondary transformation of the first soft ray with growth, as demonstrated by the reduced number of soft rays in adults (6). It also has the deepest body (27.9 – 33.8 % SL) of all species, and a distinctly convex dorsal head profile together with P. madagascariensis n. sp. and P. yamanouei n. sp. Parascombrops analis can be distinguished from both species by the vomerine tooth patch which is wider and more intensely covered by granular teeth, by a single row of denticles on the ectopterygoid (vs 2 – 4), and the first anal-fin pterygiophore being very broad, with a widened tipped and hollow (vs moderately broad, without widened tip and hollow). Geographic and bathymetric distribution. Parascombrops analis has a disjunctive distribution in the northwestern Pacific off southern Japan, Taiwan and the northern Philippines and in the southwestern Pacific from the Coral Sea to Vanuatu, but is absent from the tropical low latitudes. Specimens examined have been caught in a wide depth

Reappraisal of Synagrops Günther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae)