A new species of the flatfish genus Chascanopsetta (Pleuronectiformes: Bothidae), from the coasts of Kenya and Komalia with comments on C. lugubris

• Main Author: Dannie A. Hensley and Malcolm J. Smale
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 1997
• Subjects: Indian; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.bioline.org.br/abstract?id=fs97002

Six species of the genus Chascanopsetta are currently recognized. Recent work on otolith morphology from specimens identified as C. lugubris raised the possibility that three forms of C. lugubris are found in the western Indian Ocean. Re-examination of the voucher specimens showed that one of these forms is a new species, C. kenyaensis, from Kenya and Somalia. The other two forms may show differences in otolith morphology due to ontogeny. The new species most closely resembles C. prorigera from the Hawaiian Archipelago, Emperor Seamounts, and the western North Atlantic. These two species differ in lateral-line scale counts, body depth, upper-jaw length, and coloration. Many comparative specimens of C. lugubris were examined. It was found that this species' distribution rounds the Cape of Good Hope from the southwestern Indian Ocean into the southeastern Atlantic. Specimens from this southern African region show higher dorsal- and anal- fin ray counts than those from more northern areas in the Atlantic, western Pacific, and Indian oceans. There is some indication that what some authors refer to as the Indo-West Pacific subspecies C. lugubris lugubris rounds the Cape of Good Hope and also occurs in pans of the eastern Atlantic. A more thorough comparison of C. lugubris from different regions is needed.