Journal of the
Ocean Science Foundation

An open-access free online peer-reviewed Marine Biology Journal, since 2008.

published by the Ocean Science Foundation

 
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click on covers for COVER PAGE images
 

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A review of Indian Ocean Foa cardinalfishes (Percomorpha: Apogonidae: Apogonichthyini), with a new species from Chagos Archipelago and the Maldives

Thomas H. Fraser

Abstract

A new species of cardinalfish, Foa winterbottomi, is described from the Chagos Archipelago and Maldive Islands. It is characterized by a relatively uniform dusky head and body, fewer than 10 pores between the mandibular and articular pores, and a single line of free neuromasts along the dentary. The new species is compared to the two regional congeners: Foa madagascariensis, known from tidal estuaries and shallows of East Africa and the islands of the western Indian Ocean, is characterized by discrete, small, intense dark spots on the body, about 35 pores between the mandibular and articular pores, and multiple linear rows of free neuromasts on the dentary; and Foa fo, a widespread species, has indistinct irregular dark bars on the body, about 30 pores between the mandibular and articular pores, and multiple linear rows of free neuromasts on the dentary. The holotype of Apogonichthys zuluensis is re-examined and the species is considered a junior synonym of Foa fo.

     

CITATION:

Fraser, T.H. (2020) A review of Indian Ocean Foa cardinalfishes (Percomorpha: Apogonidae: Apogonichthyini), with a new species from Chagos Archipelago and the Maldives. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 35, 18-29.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3893961

publication date: 15 June 2020