Stigmatopora harastii, a new species of pipefish in facultative associations with finger sponges and red algae from New South Wales, Australia (Teleostei, Syngnathidae)

Graham Short; Andrew Trevor-Jones

doi:10.3897/zookeys.994.57160

Stigmatopora harastii, a new species of pipefish in facultative associations with finger sponges and red algae from New South Wales, Australia (Teleostei, Syngnathidae)

Zookeys. 2020 Nov 17:994:105-123. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.994.57160. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Graham Short^{1

2

3

4}, Andrew Trevor-Jones¹

Affiliations

¹ Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney NSW 2010, Australia Australian Museum Sydney Australia.
² California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA California Academy of Sciences San Francisco United States of America.
³ Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 4300 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture Seattle United States of America.
⁴ IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish & Seadragon Specialist Group (SPS SG), Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4, Canada University of British Columbia Vancouver Canada.

Abstract

A new species of pipefish, Stigmatopora harastii sp. nov., is described based on the male holotype and two female paratypes, 136.3-145.5 mm SL, collected from red algae (sp.?) at 12 meters depth in Botany Bay, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The new taxon shares morphological synapomorphies with the previously described members of Stigmatopora, including principle body ridges, fin placement, slender tail, and absence of a caudal fin. It is morphologically and meristically similar to Stigmatopora nigra, including snout length and shape, dorsal-fin origin on 6^th-7^th trunk ring, and lateral trunk ridge terminating on the first tail ring. Stigmatopora harastii sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners, however, by characters of the head and first trunk ring, distinct sexual dimorphic markings on sides and venter of anterior trunk rings, and red background coloration in life. The new taxon can be further differentiated by genetic divergence in the mitochondrial COI gene (uncorrected p-distances of 9.8%, 10.1%, 10.7%, and 14.6%, from S. argus, S. macropterygia, S. narinosa, and S. nigra, respectively). The type locality is characterised by semi-exposed deep-water sandy areas interspersed with boulders, flat reefs, and an absence of seagrass beds, in which S. harastii has been observed living in facultative associations with a finger sponge and red algae at depths of 10-25 meters, compared to the shallow coastal and estuarine habitats preferred by the fucoid algae and seagrass-associating members of Stigmatopora. Stigmatopora harastii sp. nov. represents the fourth species of Stigmatopora recorded in temperate southern Australia.

Keywords: Botany Bay; COI; Jervis Bay; South Pacific; Sydney; cryptobenthic; ichthyology; marine fish; morphology; systematics; taxonomy.

Graham Short, Andrew Trevor-Jones.