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Reinstatement and redescription of the monocle bream Scolopsis regina Whitley 1937 (Perciformes: Nemipteridae)

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Abstract

The validity of Scolopsis regina Whitley 1937, described from a single specimen from Australia and long treated as a junior synonym of Scolopsis monogramma (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1830), is confirmed in this study. The two species share the following features: 45–48 lateral-line scales; 9–11 total gill rakers on first gill arch; no anteriorly projecting suborbital spine; scaled dorsal area of head reaching anteriorly to between anterior margin of eye and posterior nostril; bony ridge of opercle and lower limb of preopercle scaled; scaled lateral area of head extending to just behind eye; and two longitudinal blue bands connecting anterior margins of eyes when fresh. However, S. regina is distinguished from S. monogramma by having 18–20 (modally 19) scale rows below the lateral line [vs. 17–20 (18) in S. monogramma], 6 or 7 (7) preopercular scale rows below eye [5 or 6 (6)], two distinct brown bands across dorsum of snout after preservation (lower band indistinct), a distinct suborbital blue band from lower margin of eye to upper-jaw lip when fresh (blue band indistinct or absent) and the blue band becoming a distinct brown band after preservation (band disappearing), caudal-fin base dark blue when fresh (yellow), a blue longitudinal band on upper caudal-fin lobe (absent), relatively long upper and lower caudal-fin lobes (relatively short), and a relatively wide marginal blue band posteriorly on caudal fin (relatively narrow). Scolopsis regina is distributed off northern Australia, whereas S. monogramma occurs in East and Southeast Asian waters.

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Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to A. Hay, S. Reader, and K. Parkinson (AMS), H. Endo (BSKU), A. Graham and J. Pogonoski (CSIRO), G. Shinohara and M. Nakae (NSMT), G. Dally and M. Hammer (NTM), J. Johnson (QM), E. Dondorp (RMNH), R. Winterbottom, D. Stacey, and E. Holm (ROM), and H. Wada (ZMUT) for opportunities to examine specimens and providing specimen photographs; T. Maekawa (Maekawa Fisheries, Amami), Y. Sakurai (Okinawa Environmental Research, Okinawa), G. Kume (Kagoshima University), J. Nakamura (Kagoshima City Aquarium), and Y. Haraguchi and other volunteers, graduates, and students of KAUM for collecting specimens and curatorial assistance; and G. Hardy (Ngunguru, New Zealand) for reading the manuscript and providing help with English. Malaysian specimens deposited at KAUM were collected during the JSPS (the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan) Asian Core Program, “Establishment of Research and Education Network on Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia”, and the JSPS Core-to-Core Program: B Asia-Africa Science Platforms, supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (Government of Malaysia), University Putra Malaysia, and University Malaysia Terengganu. Vietnamese specimens were collected with the support of the Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (Haiphone) and the Ha Long Bay Management Department (Ha Long), with permission for the use of specimens granted by the Biodiversity Conservation Agency, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Hanoi). This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 20H03311 and 21H03651; the JSPS Core-to-core CREPSUM JPJSCCB20200009; and the “Establishment of Glocal Research and Education Network in the Amami Islands” project of Kagoshima University adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima, 890-8580, Japan

    Shotaro Ishihara

  2. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, GPO Box 4646, Darwin, NT, 0801, Australia

    Barry C. Russell

  3. Adjunct Research Associate, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia

    Barry C. Russell

  4. Research Associate of the Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia

    Barry C. Russell

  5. Research Associate of Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

    Barry C. Russell

  6. The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima, 890-0065, Japan

    Hiroyuki Motomura

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  1. Shotaro Ishihara
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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Motomura.

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Ishihara, S., Russell, B.C. & Motomura, H. Reinstatement and redescription of the monocle bream Scolopsis regina Whitley 1937 (Perciformes: Nemipteridae). Ichthyol Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-023-00940-2

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