Review of the anthiine fish genus Pseudanthias (Perciformes: Serranidae) of the western Indian Ocean, with description of a new species and a key to the species

Abstract

Nineteen species of the serranid fish genus Pseudanthias Bleeker are recognized in the western Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf ): Pseudanthias bicolor, P. bimaculatus, P. bimarginatus, P. connelli, P. conspicuus, P. cooperi, P. evansi, P. gibbosus, P. heemstrai, P. hypselosoma, P. ignitus, P. lunulatus, P. marcia, P. pulcherrimus, P. squamipinnis, P. taeniatus, P. townsendi, P. unimarginatus and Pseudanthias pillai sp. nov. is described from the south-west coast of India. Pseudanthias gibbosus (Klunzinger) is resurrected from the synonymy of P. squamipinnis and is shown to have a precocious male morph. Discovery of three colour morphs for P. gibbosus is an example of the complicated reproductive systems of these species. Diagnoses, distributions, illustrations and a key to all the species of Pseudanthias in the western Indian Ocean are given.