Abstract. The paedomorphic gobioids of the family Schindleriidae, collectively known as infantfishes, live in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. The extremely paedomorphic genus Schindleria is a taxon representing fishes of very small dimensions. Eight specimens of male and female Schindleria praematura (Schindler, 1930) were collected by a light trap in September 2015, from a reef lagoon in Magawish Island in Hurghada on the Egyptian coast of the northern Red Sea. This is the first record of the species in the Red Sea and adds to the high number of species of the family Schindleriidae in the area.
Keywords: Schindleria praematura, Red Sea, first record, paedomorphic fish, distribution
INTRODUCTION
The paedomorphic gobioids of the family Schindleriidae, collectively known as infantfishes, are an unusual group of small, planktonic fishes living in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific, usually close to coral reefs (Johnson and Brothers 1983, Watson and Walker 2004). The extremely paedomorphic genus Schindleria (Gobioidei, Schindleriidae) includes one of the shortest (8 mm long), lightest (2 mg), and youngest reproducing (23 days, 10 generations per year) vertebrates and is broadly distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, inhabiting coral reef lagoons (Watson and Walker 2004).
Extraordinary cryptic diversity of gobioid paedomorphic genus Schindleria has been evidenced revealed by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Kon et al. 2007). At least 21 cryptic species of Schindleria potentially exist around the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands (Japan), and the Palau Islands, based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis (Kon et al. 2011). The first species was described from the Hawaiian Islands as Hemiramphus praematurus by Schindler (1930), who assumed that the species was a larval hemiramphid. The second species was also described by Schindler (1931), also from the Hawaiian Islands, as Hemiramphus pietschmanni. Giltay (1934), who had found a single specimen of H. praematurus off New Guinea, concluded that there was no evidence of a close relation to other known hemiramphids, and therefore described a new genus Schindleria for inclusion of the two species, with Schindleria praematura (Schindler, 1930) as the type species by the original designation, within a new family Schindleriidae (see van der Laan et al. 2014: 124). Johnson and Brothers (1983) demonstrated that the family is a member of the suborder Gobioidei. Gill and Mooi (2010) found a close relation of schindleriids to microdesmids. The third species, Schindleria brevipinguis Watson et Walker, 2004, was described off north-eastern Australia (Watson and Walker 2004).
Abu El-Regal and Kon (2008) reported a specimen of Schindleria sp. off Hurghada, Egypt, which they found to be close to Schindleria pietschmanni (Schindler, 1931), thus documenting the presence of this genus in the Red Sea for the first time. The second and the third species of Schindleria described from the Red Sea were Schindleria elongata Fricke et Abu El-Regal, 2017 and Schindleria nigropunctata Fricke et Abu El-Regal, 2017 (Fricke and Abu El-Regal 2017a, 2017b). During his survey on the ichthyoplankton in Hurghada on the Egyptian Red Sea coast, the first author of the present paper collected many specimens representing the family Schindleriidae. Some of these specimens were identified as Schindleria praematura, based on morphological characteristics.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Fish specimens were collectedfrom a shallow reeflagoon around the Magawish Islands 27010'02"N, 033°52'27"E, in Hurghada on the Egyptian Red Sea coast, by the first author, while fishing for larvae of reef fish. Samples were taken by a light trap in September 2016 at 22:00 h. The fish were preserved in 70% ethanol and brought to the laboratory of the Marine Science Department, Port Said University, for examination. Counts, measurements, and description of the body shape follow Leis and Carson-Ewart (2004). A stereomicroscope equipped with an ocular micrometre and camera was used to make counts and measurements and photograph the fish.
RESULTS
Eight specimens, five of which were female, two were recognized as male, and one which could not be sexed were identified as Schindleria praematura based on morphological characters (Table 1). The identification of the specimens as Schindleria sp. was based on the following combination of the observed characters: transparent and slender body, elongate and smooth gut, elongate urostyle, 13 principal caudal-fin rays, presence of urogenital papilla (Watson 2004). They then were identified as S. praematura based on the following criteria: Specimens were almost devoid of pigment except for the eyes and one melanophore on the gas bladder and were very elongate and slender with 39 (20 + 19) myomeres. Standard length (SL) varied from 10.5 mm to 16.6 mm. The morphometrics are given in Table 1. The head was small with a short, rounded snout. The mouth was of moderate size and reached the mideye. The teeth were small. The gut was straight, smooth, and elongate, extending to 53% of the standard length. The urostyle and caudal peduncle were elongate. The small but conspicuous gas bladder was situated within the second two-thirds of the body (66% of SL). The dorsal-fin origin was at myomere 20 and the first anal-fin ray lied under the fourth dorsal-fin ray. The dorsal and anal fins contained 16-17 and 10-11 rays, respectively. The pelvic fins were completely absent. The caudal fin had about five dorsal and five ventral procurrent rays (Fig. 1, Table 2).
DISCUSSION
Schindleria praematura is confined to Indo-West Pacific coral reefs and is distributed from southern Japan and the South China Sea, south to the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and Papua New Guinea, and Palau and the Marshall Islands. It has also been reported from Sala y Gómez and Easter Island (Larson and Murdy 2010). The closest area where the species was recorded is Madagascar in the western Indian Ocean (Fig. 2). This is the first record of the species in the Red Sea. It significantly extends the known distribution of this species northward in the Indo-West Pacific.
Together with S. elongata, and the species reported by Abu El-Regal and Kon (2008), as well as S. nigropunctata (see Fricke and Abu El-Regal 2017b), there are now four species of schindleriids found sympatrically in the Red Sea near Hurghada, Egypt. The Red Sea is known for its richness in ichthyofauna with more than 1100 species in 154 families (Golani and Bogorodsky 2010). This report of Schindleria praematura increases the fish diversity in the Red Sea and raises the number of species in family Schindleriidae to four. This finding could also provide the basis for some interesting zoogeographic studies of the family.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Science and Technology Development Funding (STDF) of the Ministry of Scientific Research, Egypt for funding this work through the project "Utilization of the ichthyoplankton for the management of the Red Sea Fisheries". We would like to thank Vanessa Robitzch, Institute of Environmental Science and Evolution, Austral University of Chile, for her invaluable help in finalizing the distribution map of the species.
Abu El-Regal M., Kon T 2019. First record of the Schindler's fish, Schindleriapraematura (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Gobioidei: Schindleriidae), from the Red Sea. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 49 (1): 75-78.
* Correspondence: Dr Mohamed Ahmed Abu El-Regal, Marine Biology Department, Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia, phone: (+966) 126952383 fax: (+966) 122506087, e-mail: (MA) [email protected], (TA) [email protected].
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Received: 21 April 2018
Accepted: 23 September 2018
Published electronically: 15 March 2019
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Abstract
The paedomorphic gobioids of the family Schindleriidae, collectively known as infantfishes, live in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. The extremely paedomorphic genus Schindleria is a taxon representing fishes of very small dimensions. Eight specimens of male and female Schindleria praematura (Schindler, 1930) were collected by a light trap in September 2015, from a reef lagoon in Magawish Island in Hurghada on the Egyptian coast of the northern Red Sea. This is the first record of the species in the Red Sea and adds to the high number of species of the family Schindleriidae in the area.
You have requested "on-the-fly" machine translation of selected content from our databases. This functionality is provided solely for your convenience and is in no way intended to replace human translation. Show full disclaimer
Neither ProQuest nor its licensors make any representations or warranties with respect to the translations. The translations are automatically generated "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" and are not retained in our systems. PROQUEST AND ITS LICENSORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES FOR AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Your use of the translations is subject to all use restrictions contained in your Electronic Products License Agreement and by using the translation functionality you agree to forgo any and all claims against ProQuest or its licensors for your use of the translation functionality and any output derived there from. Hide full disclaimer
Details
1 Marine Biology Department, Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2 University of the Ryukyus, Japan