Goatfishes (Mullidae) as indicators in tropical and temperate coastal habitat monitoring and management

This review investigates if goatfishes qualify as habitat indicators and play a role as key species for use in coastal ecosystem monitoring and management, emphasizing major gaps of knowledge in goatfish ecology and systematics. Currently, 66 species of goatfishes are known, the family occurring widely in tropical, subtropical and temperate habitats from the upper littoral down to the upper slope. Studies of goatfish occurrence and abundance in natural habitats have documented general preferences for sand-associated bottoms after post-larval settlement that goes hand in hand with the development of the characteristic barbels. Species, populations and later life-history stages may, however, differ significantly from each other in habitat use. Some species are more restricted to hard bottoms, others separate mainly by depth. Goatfishes respond to human-induced factors such as fisheries and habitat modification, as reflected by abundance, size, or weight changes, or changes in their distributional ranges. Temperature increase may lead to increased reproductive or growth rates and longer warming periods may induce goatfishes to migrate to higher latitudes, as exemplified by striped red mullet (Mullus surmuletus) in the North Sea. Isolated occurrences of this species in the Norwegian Sea at 60°N have been documented. Goatfishes may act as allochthonous ecosystem engineers through their vigorous foraging behaviour with barbels and mouth, which leads to the stirring-up of sediments and associated detritus particles high into the water column. Goatfishes play a key role in the formation of multi-species foraging associations as nuclear species that are followed by many other species. The role of goatfishes in food webs has been rarely evaluated and the many interactions goatfishes may be involved in have not yet been sufficiently considered. There is also a considerable lack of basic systematic and taxonomic knowledge, new species still being described and intraspecific morphological variation and genetic differentiation requiring more detailed studies. Goatfishes clearly deserve more attention in future coastal habitat exploration, monitoring and management efforts

Three new goatfishes of the genus Upeneus from the Eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, with an updated taxonomic account for U. itoui (Mullidae: japonicus-species group)

Coastal marine fish diversity from E India and Indonesia to S Japan is still insufficiently investigated. Of the 42 species of goatfishes (Mullidae) recorded from this area, 12 were described only since 2010 and ten of those belong to the genus Upeneus. During a recent review of species of Upeneus of the so-called japonicus-species group (characterized by seven dorsal-fin spines), 13 specimens that had been previously identified as U. guttatus from Indonesia and Vietnam were found to be distinct, representing possibly two undescribed species. These specimens were studied together with 20 U. itoui from S Japan, a rather similar species, and a yet unidentified congeneric from S Japan. In total 41 morphometric, 10 meristic and several colour characters were examined and detailed comparisons with a large data set from all 14 japonicus-group species conducted. Three new species, U. dimipavlov n. sp. from Nha Trang, S-central Vietnam, U. elongatus n. sp. from Tanega-shima Island, Kagoshima, S Japan and U. willwhite n. sp. from Lombok, S Indonesia are described and an updated account for U. itoui is provided. Among these four featured species, U. elongatus is the most different, having more gill rakers, the shallowest head and body and distinct colour patterns on caudal and dorsal fins. Upeneus dimipavlov differs from the remaining two species in having a more rounded and less laterally compressed body with a wider caudal peduncle and no conspicuous mid-lateral body stripe in fresh fish. Upeneus willwhite differs from U. itoui in deeper head, larger eyes, longer upper jaw and barbels and oblique bars on the lower caudal-fin lobe which do not cross the entire lobe. Additional comparisons of each of the four featured species with all other japonicus-group species and U. heterospinus were conducted providing evidence for distinction and differential diagnosis. Unvouchered in-situ photographs of four goatfish specimens from the Central Philippines that resemble U. elongatus in caudal- and dorsal-fin colour patterns are presented. The need for further sampling and associated taxonomic investigations as prerequisites for appropriate assessment of ecological and conservation parameters such as diversity, distribution and rarity is emphasized in the discussion.publishedVersio

A new goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from Lombok, Indonesia and first verified record of U. asymmetricus for the Indian Ocean

-Upeneus lombok n. sp. is described from two specimens collected off Lombok, Indonesia, at depths of 54–76 m, and one subadult specimen from the local fish market at Tanjung Luar, Lombok. Four specimens of U. asymmetricus were collected at the same fish market representing the first record of the species since its description from two Philippine Islands in 1954. These two species are compared in detail and with five congeneric species that all share a 7-spined dorsal fin and a high gill-raker count. Upeneus lombok n. sp. differs from all other congeners in having a short snout (snout length 9.0–9.6% SL) combined with a low anal fin (anal-fin height 12–13% SL in adults, 15% in single subadult). The newly recorded U. asymmetricus specimens differ from their types only slightly and all eight specimens together differ from all congeneric species in the combination of 7 dorsal spines, 12–14 pectoral fin rays, 26–28 total gill rakers, short pectoral fins (pectoral-fin length 18–21% SL) and short jaws (upper jaw length 8.7–11% SL). In both species the caudal-fin colour patterns of fresh fish are of diagnostic significance, the only exception being a close similarity between Upeneus lombok n.sp., U. saiab, and U. seychellensis. Additional comparisons with 14 Upeneus species which overlap in distribution or occur in nearby areas are also made. Needs for further taxonomic exploration of the Indonesian-Philippine region and for enhanced attention to the economic and ecological importance of Upeneus species are discussed

Review of the steatiticus-species group of the cuskeel genus Neobythites (Ophidiidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with description of two new species

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Two new goatfishes of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from Australia and Indonesia

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Ocellus-bearing Neobythites species (Teleostei: Ophidiidae) from the West Atlantic with description of a new species

Open access articleThree species of the ophidiid genus Neobythites containing ocelli in the dorsal fin are known from the West Atlantic: Neobythites gilli Goode and Bean 1885, N. ocellatus Günther 1887 and N. monocellatus Nielsen 1999. In the year 2000, 18 specimens of Neobythites were caught on the upper continental slope off eastern Brazil. This is the first documented record of a Neobythites specimen off Brazil since the holotype of N. ocellatus was caught in 1873. Seventeen of the specimens are referable to N. ocellatus and one to N. monocellatus. Until now the distribution of N. ocellatus was considered to be from off Atlantic Florida, the Caribbean Sea and then a gap of 4500 km to the type locality off Brazil. However, the holotype and the 17 specimens differ from the more northerly recorded specimens in pattern and number of spots and ocelli on the dorsal fin. The 18 Brazilian specimens have two distinct ocelli, one near the origin of the dorsal fin and one above the midpoint of the fish, and further back occasionally a small, black spot, while the northern specimens occasionally have a small, black spot near the origin of the fin, a distinct ocellus above the midpoint and up to three ocelli further posteriorly. Consequently a new species, N. multiocellatus, is described based on 59 specimens from the Caribbean Sea to off Atlantic Florida. The record of the N. monocellatus specimen extends its distribution about 3000 km southwards. A comparison of the four ocellus-bearing species from the West Atlantic is made

Upeneus floros, a new goatfish from South Africa and Mozambique, with updated taxonomic accounts for U. guttatus and U. pori and a key to Western Indian Ocean Upeneus species (Mullidae)

The highly diverse goatfish genus Upeneus (Mullidae) requires enhanced attention regarding the possible occurrence of undescribed species in insufficiently explored regions. This study focuses on the South-Western Indian Ocean region (SWIO), and on the so-called japonicus-group, a taxonomic species group of Upeneus. Based on in-situ observations and collections in Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, the Floros goatfish, U. floros n. sp., is described. Detailed comparative studies of colour patterns and morphological characters of all other 13 japonicus-group species were undertaken as well as COI barcoding. The new species occurs in the coastal area between Angoche, N Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal and partly overlaps in distribution with two similar species, U. guttatus, widely distributed in the Indo-W Pacific, and U. saiab, assumed to be endemic in a small area off Angoche. Two additional japonicus-group species occurring in the SWIO, U. seychellensis from the Seychelles Bank and U. pori from the Mediterranean Sea (as Lessepsian migrant), Northern Red Sea and Madagascar, were also compared. Because specimens as well as in-situ photographs of U. floros have been erroneously identified as either U. guttatus or U. pori during previous studies, updated taxonomic accounts and diagnoses are provided for these species taking size-related and population differences into account. For U. pori, of which a single preserved specimen from SW Madagascar was known so far, a new record from NE Madagascar is reported based on three specimens and a fresh-colour photo. Upeneus floros can be distinguished from U. guttatus and U. pori by a combination of three characters: head length, first dorsal-fin height and number of gill rakers. Upeneus guttatus can be distinguished from the other two species by disproportionally higher anterior dorsal-fin spines vs. a proportional decrease of dorsal-fin spines in height, barbels mostly yellow vs. white or creamy-white, and slightly fewer pectoral-fin rays. COI barcoding detected a clear distinction between U. guttatus and U. floros and U. pori, respectively, but no significant divergence between the two latter species. COI barcoding also failed to differentiate several other Upeneus species which are clearly distinguished morphologically. Possible interrelationships between species distribution patterns and physical oceanography are discussed. An identification key for the 22 WIO Upeneus species is provided.publishedVersio