Abstract
A new pufferfish, Arothron multilineatus, is described on the basis of four specimens collected from southern Japan. It is distinguished from the other 13 species of Arothron by having many longitudinal white lines on the dark greenish-brown head and body. Underwater photographs of this new pufferfish have revealed that it is widely distributed in the tropical regions of the Indo-West Pacific including the Red Sea. A key to the species of Arothron is provided.
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Acknowledgments
I thank Minoru Toda (Okinawa Churashima Foundation), Hiroyuki Motomura (KAUM), and Masaaki Wada (fisherman in Miyazaki Prefecture) for collecting the type specimens of Arothron multilineatus. Kimiaki Ito and Richard Field provided excellent underwater photographs of A. multilineatus. Elaine Heemstra (SAIAB) and Angela Lund provided photographs of A. multilineatus to confirm the distributional record of this species from Mozambique. Photographs of the holotype and the paratypes were provided by Minoru Toda, Hiroyuki Motomura and Masaaki Wada. My thanks also go to Hiroyuki Motomura, Yukio Iwatsuki, and Ryohei Miki (MUFS) for loan of the paratypes. Photographs of Arothron in Figs. 4 and 5 were provided by Hirokazu Kishimoto, Hiroyuki Motomura, Alvheim Oddgeir, John E. Randall (BPBM), and Hiroshi Senou (KPM). Eri Katayama (NSMT) took X-ray photographs of the type specimens. My thanks also go to the following museum staff for their assistance in accessing specimens examined during this study: Mark McGrouther (AMS), James Maclaine (BMNH), Arnold Suzumoto (BPBM), David Catania (CAS), Yoshiaki Kai (FAKU), Toshio Kawai (HUMZ), Tetsuo Yoshino (URM), Jeff T. Williams (USNM), Sue Morrison (WAM), Masayoshi Hayashi (YCM), and Kazuo Sakamoto (ZUMT). Edward O. Murdy kindly reviewed the manuscript. This study was partially supported by Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Researches B (24370041) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; Health Labour Sciences Research Grant (FY2015–2017) of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan; the “Biological Properties of Biodiversity Hotspots in Japan” Project of the National Museum of Nature and Science; and JSPS Asian Core Program “Establishment of Research and Education Network on Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia.”
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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as 2EED46BF-3F4C-4002-801A-7EABD28AFB76.
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Matsuura, K. A new pufferfish, Arothron multilineatus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), from the Indo-West Pacific. Ichthyol Res 63, 480–486 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-016-0517-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-016-0517-8