ANOTHER NEW FIJIAN ANEMONEFISH

Amphiprion barberi: Beqa, Fiji. Scott W. Michael.

Amphiprion melanopus: Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Scott W. Michael.

Amphiprion frenatus: pair (male in foreground), Aniloa, Philippines. Janine Cairns-Michael.

In the past month, another anemonefish has been described from Fiji. It has been given the name Amphiprion barberi. This fish has long been considered a color form of Amphiprion melanopus, an anemonefish that is known to range from Bali to the Society Islands, north to the Marianas, and south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. But after further investigation by pomacentrid-guru, Dr. Gerald Allen, this supposed variant has been raised to species status. Here is the abstract from the publication:

Amphiprion barberi, a new species of anemonefish fish, is described from 46 specimens, 16.3-85.8 mm SL, collected at depths of 2-10 m from coral reefs of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. It is closely allied to A. melanopus, which is widely distributed in the western Pacific. The two species exhibit significant colour-pattern differences, including a mainly reddish orange body in A. barberi and dark brown or blackish body in A. melanopus. Adults of the new species also possess fewer spinules (11-19 versus 19-26) in the upper-opercular series than A. melanopus. Genetic data presented here confirms the separation of these species.

Reference:

Gerald R. Allen, Joshua Drew and Les Kaufman: Amphiprion barberi, a new species of anemonefish (Pomacentridae) from Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. Aqua – International Journal of Ichthyology. 14 (3): 105-114

Photos copyright Scott W. Michael.

DEMOISELLE (TAXONOMY) IN DISTRESS!

Underwater photographs of closely related species of Chrysiptera (30-35 mm SL): C. giti, Fak Fak Peninsula, western New Guinea (upper left), C. hemicyanea, Raja Ampat Islands, western New Guinea (upper right), C. parasema, El Nido, Philippines (lower left), and C. species B, Madang, Papua New Guinea (lower right). Photos by G. R. Allen.

Have you ever done something you would like to take back? I will tell you a secret - after every REEF FISHES volume that has been published to date (including the new volume on DAMSELFISHES) I wish I had a chance to take it back and make changes! In part, as I mentioned in an earlier post, taxonomic changes often occur during the preparation and publication process. Inevitably, there are journal articles that come out just after these books go to press that can impact the taxonomic standing of various species and proposed synonyms. In fact, one reason the DOTTYBACK volume was delayed was because I was aware that a big revision of the family Pseudochromidae was about to be published by Dr. Anthony Gill and I wanted to wait until it came out so that the scientific binomials in the book were up-to-date. If I had not waited, the dottyback section of the book would have been totally out of date within three months of the book hitting the shelves!

As I mentioned below, I mislabeled a couple of new species of anemonefishes (which I classified simply as color variants) that are going to be raised to species level by Dr. Gerald Allen. But the changes do not stop there. Taxonomic upheaval has recently occurred in one of my favorite Pomacentrid genera, the Chrysiptera (a.k.a. demoiselles). Dr. Gerald Allen (the guru of all that is damsel) came out with a paper a couple of months ago that will cause all of us to re-examine the proposed geographical variants of the most beautiful members of this genus.

For example, in my damselfish book (and in other REEF FISHES books published before it) I use the term Chrysiptera parasema for the yellow-tailed blue demoiselle with yellow pelvic fins. But according to Dr. Allen, this is actually distinct on the species level from the yellow-tailed demoiselle that lacks the yellow pelvics (see photos above which are from Allen and Erdmann 2008). Dr. Allen also described a new, closely related form from West Papua that he named Chrysiptera giti. "What's a giti" you might ask? Two donors that are generously supporting the Conservation International’s Bird’s Head Seascape marine conservation initiative requested it be given that name to honor a family company. Not only is C. parasema being broken up into at least two distinct species, it is also likely that all the various color forms of Chrysiptera cyanea are actually valid species....but we will save that for a future post!

So there you have another example of why I wish I could have a “do-over!” I will keep you abreast of other taxonomic changes that occur and will also provide the new name of the C. parasema-like fish, with the yellow pelvic fins, when it becomes available.

Allen, G. R. and M. V. Erdmann. 2008. A new species of damselfish (Pomacentridae: Chrysiptera) from western New Guinea and the Togean Islands, Indonesia. Aqua Special. Pub. 13 (3-4): 171-178.

NEW ANEMONEFISHES

New species of Amphiprion from Fiji and Tonga. Photo by Scott Michael.

As with my past books, there are already taxonomic changes that occur that are missed or that are published just after the book goes to press (there are also other errors which I hope to correct on this blog).

There are a couple of anemonefishes in the new REEF FISHES book (see post below) that are misidentified. For example, the fish pictured on page 219 (on bottom right), is actually a new species from Fiji that was originally considered a color form of Amphiprion melanopus. The leading authority on reef fishes, Dr. Gerald Allen, tells me it is a new species. Its true identity was confirmed by doing some DNA analysis.

Likewise, on page 229 I have a photo of what I believed to be an odd variant of Amphiprion perideraion from Fiji (it actually looks more like A. akallopisos). This too, according to Gerry, is a new species. I have been able to obtain some type specimens for Gerry so he can make the formal description of the little beauty. The two specimens I obtained came from Dave Palmer of Pacific Aqua Farms. The fish were actually collected in Tonga.

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael