Schwartz, Frank J.

Northeast Gulf Science

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Frank J. Schwartz

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Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi (Pisces: Serranidae) Caught off North Carolina

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Northeast Gulf ScienceVolume 2Number 1 Number 1 Article 66-1978Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi(Pisces: Serranidae) Caught off North CarolinaFrank J. SchwartzUniversity of North CarolinaDOI: 10.18785/negs.0201.06Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/gomsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Gulf of Mexico Scienceby an authorized editor of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact Joshua.Cromwell@usm.edu.Recommended CitationSchwartz, F. J. 1978. Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi (Pisces: Serranidae) Caught off North Carolina. Northeast GulfScience 2 (1).Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/goms/vol2/iss1/662 Northeast Gulf Science Vol. 2, No. 1 June 1978 XANTHOCHROl\HSM IN Epinephelus drummondlzayi (PISCES: SERRAN-IDAE) CAUGHT OFF NORTH CAROLINA Xanthochromism has been reported among flounders, eels, gars, hogchokers (Dawson, 1964, 1966, 1971; Dawson and Heal, 1976) and sea chubs (Sgano and Abe, 1973). Within the family Serranidae yellow coloration is known for Mycteroperca oflax (Jenyns) (Smith, 1971), Mycteroperca rosacea (Streets) (Walford, 1936, 1937), Epinephelus jitlvus (Linnaeus) (Smith, 1971), and Epinephelus mario (Valenciennes) (Moe, 1963, 1969). Walford (1936, 1937) and Smith (1958) referred to some of the xanthic M. rosacea and E. fulvus as "golden forms". Moe (1963) noted a xanthic E. mario from Florida with a white interorbital blotch. To these species, I add a speckled hind, Epin-ephelus drummondhayi Goode and Bean (167 mm SL, 173 mm TL; UNC 13534), captured on hook-and-line 27 August 1977 64 km SE of Beaufort Inlet, NC, 'at 34°05'N 76°32'W, depth 40 m. The fish was placed on ice immediately following capture. A color description was recorded three hours after capture, prior to preservation in 10% form-aldehyde. Color Prior to Preservation: The head, including the fleshy orbit, and the en-tire body was brilliant yellow except for the branchiostegal and lower cleithral areas (Fig. 1). The outer surfaces of the jaws were yellow as was the buccal cavity. The esophagus and gill arches We're white Externally 1 he isthmus was white-pink with a yellow hue. The branchiostegal rays were golden-yellow on the bone while the membranes were rose-red. This pigmentation ex tended onto the cleithrum which was a pale white with a yellow-pink hue. Blue spots, about 2 mm in diameter, occurred scattered on the preopercle, posterior to the orbit; a few were also present on the cheek. Blue spots on a whitish background were scattered on the opercle. Spots were lacking on the nape. The entire body possessed irregularly scatter-ed white spots, which extended onto the dorsal spines. The dorsal spine tips were golden-yellow with a dusky hue while the flaps were brilliant yellow. The second dorsal fin was yellow with a dusky hue distally. The extreme edge of the second dorsal fin from the third to 16th rays was pink-fuschia. The caudal peduncle was dusky-yellow with no white spots. White spots occurred on the yellow caudal fin, the outer third of which was pale fuschia. The ventral half of the cau-dal peduncle was yellow but lacked white spots. The anal fin was bright yellow to the first ray; the anterior edge of the other rays for the entire fin length was fuschia. The fuschia of the anal fin continued anteriorly over the anus to the pelvic fin base. The proximal fifth of the pelvic fin was fuschia to yellow-white while the distal eighth was clear. Fuschia occurred on the distal half of the yellow pectoral fins. A pale white-yellow area existed on the body between the base of the pectoral pelvic fins to a vertical halfway along the length of the pectoral fins (Fig. 1). Color itl Preservative: Eight months after preservation, the body and fins were white. The previously described blue and white spots on the head and just posterior to the cyt' vvere dusky while the fin and body white spots have a dusky overcast. A pale white background coloration ex-tended from the preopercle across the interorbital space. A pale dusky aspect to the body coloration persisted from the nape to the fourth dorsal spine and in 1Schwartz: Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi (Pisces: Serranidae) CPublished by The Aquila Digital Community, 1978M Ill ~ " 0 c "0 c "' ~a; Q. "' Q. 0 .<: <f) Figure 1. Xanthochromic Epinephelus drummondhayi from off Beaufort Inlet, NC. 2Gulf of Mexico Science, Vol. 2 [1978], No. 1, Art. 6https://aquila.usm.edu/goms/vol2/iss1/6DOI: 10.18785/negs.0201.0664 Northeast Gulf Science Vol. 2, No.1 June 1978 slightly lighter tones a third of the way down over the body toward the lateral line. A dusky hue existed on the snout and at the symphysis of the lower jaw. While Smith (pers. comm.) has seen specimens of E. drummondhayi as small as 225 mm SL, which were reddish maroon with white spots like adults, he has never seen a smaller young E. drum-mondhayi or knows if there is an onto-genetic color change as in several other grouper species (Smith, 1971). The above specimen agrees with published descriptions of E. drummondhayi except color. It possesses a XI, 16 dorsal, III, 9 anal spine-ray count, 17-18 pectoral fin rays, and 26 gill rakers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due Captain W. Williams of A11/V EBB TIDE for calling the specimen to my attention and Dr. C. L. Smith, American Museum of Natural History, New York, for verification of and com-ments on the specimen. LITERATURE CITED Dawson, C. E. 1964. A bibliography of anomalies of fishes. Gulf Coast Res. Rcpt.1(6): 308-399. ______ . 1966. A bibliography of anomalies of fishes - Supplement 1. Gulf Coast Res. Rept. 2(2): 169-176. ______ . 1971. A bibliography of anomalies of fishes - Supplement 2. Gulf Coast Res. Rept. 3(2): 215-239. ______ , and E. Heal. 1976. A bibliography of anomalies of fishes -Supplement 3. Gulf Coast Res. Rept. 5(2): 35-41. 1\loe, i\1. A., Jr. 1963. Partial albinism in a xanthic specimen of Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) from the Gulf of Mexico. Copeia 1963(4):703. ______ . 1969. Biology of the red grouper, Epinephelus moria (Val-enciennes) from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Fla. Dept. Nat. Res., Prof. Pap. Ser. 10, 95 p. Sgano, T., and T. Abe. 1973. Xantho-chromous examples of one or two species of sea chubs of the genus Kyphosus from the Bonin Islands. uo 16:1-2. Smith, C. L. 1958. The groupers of Bermuda, p. 3 7-5 9. In: Bardach, J. E., C. L. Smith, and D. W. Menzel (eds.), Bermuda Fish. Res. Prog., Final Report, Hamilton, Bermuda. Bermuda Trade Develop. Bd., Hamilton. 1961. Synopsis of bio-logical data on groupers ( Epinephe!us and allied genera) of the western North Atlantic. F AO Fish. Bioi. Synop. 23(1), 61 p. _____ . 1971. A revision of the American groupers: Epinephelus and allied genera. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 146(2):67-242. Walford, L. A. 1936. Contributions from the Fleischmann Expedition along the west coast of Mexico. I. New fishes from the west coast of Mexico. II The groupers (JV!yctero-perca) of the Pacific Coast of the Americas. Occ. Pap. Santa Barbara !vlus. Nat. Hist. 4, 8 p. 1937. rvlarine game fishes of the Pacific coast from Alaska to the Equator. Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley, 205 p., 69 pls. Frank J. Schwartz, Institute of Marine Sciences. University ofNorth Carolina, Morehead City, NC :!8557. 3Schwartz: Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi (Pisces: Serranidae) CPublished by The Aquila Digital Community, 1978

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Xanthochromism in Epinephelus drummondhayi (Pisces: Serranidae) Caught off North Carolina

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