Vol. 63, 2024

(update: 2024.7.9)

A New Cryptic Species of Splitfin Fish from Taiwan with Revision of the Genus Synagrops (Acropomatiformes: Synagropidae)

Dominique P. Mediodia^1,2,3,4, Chia-Hao Chang⁵, Hsuan-Ching Ho^6,7, Tomáš Přikryl⁸, and Chien-Hsiang Lin^2,*

¹Biodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11529, Taiwan. E-mail: dpmediodia@up.edu.ph (Mediodia)
²Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan. *Correspondence: E-mail: chlin.otolith@gmail.com (Lin)
³Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
⁴Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanology, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Philippines
⁵Department of Science Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei 10671, Taiwan. E-mail: chiahao0928@gmail.com (Chang)
⁶Department and Graduate Institute of Aquaculture, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 807618 Taiwan. E-mail: ogcoho@gmail.com (Ho)
⁷Graduate Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 974301, Taiwan
⁸Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Department of Paleobiology and Paleoecology, Czech Republic. E-mail: prikryl@gli.cas.cz (Přikryl)

(Received 1 September 2023 / Accepted 14 March 2024 / Published 9 July 2024)
Communicated by Hin-Kiu Mok

A new species of splitfin fish, Synagrops atrumoris sp. nov., from Dongsha Island, Taiwan, South China Sea, is described based on its morphological characteristics, including osteology and otolith morphology, and DNA sequence. Synagrops atrumoris sp. nov. is closely similar to Synagrops japonicus and can be distinguished by its black mouth cavity covering the lower portion of the tongue, posteriorly enlarged
and complex basioccipital fossae, and a triangular otolith with a strong postero-dorsal angle, as well as a strong genetic difference. In addition, the taxonomy of the genus Synagrops was revised. Available published data, together with our results, suggest that S. bellus is a synonym of S. japonicus.

Key words: Taxonomy, Ichthyology, Biodiversity, Otolith, Phylogenetic analyses

Citation: Mediodia DP, Chang CH, Ho HC, Přikryl T, Lin CH. 2024. A new cryptic species of splitfin fish from Taiwan with revision of the genus Synagrops (Acropomatiformes: Synagropidae). Zool Stud 63:20. doi:10.6620/ZS.2024.63-20.

Supplementary materials: Fig. S1丨Fig. S2丨Table S1丨Table S2丨Table S3