ISRAEL JOURNAL OF , VoL 35, 1988/89, pp. 237-240 Printed March 1989

OPWPOMUS REICHEl (PISCES: GOBllDAE): NEW RECORD FOR THE RED SEA

MENACHEM GoREN Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel

Oplopomus reichei (Bleeker, 1853) is found throughout the Indo-Pacific region. It is known from the eastern coast of Africa and the Indo-Australian Archipelago to Japan. The fish has been collected on sandy substratum, often in the proximity of coral reefs or rocks and has also been found in estuaries and fresh water (K.oumans, 1953). The generic status of this is not yet settled. Koumans (1953), who placed the species in Bleeker (Koumans, 1941), listed four former generic assign­ ments of reichei in a monograph on the Indo-Australian gobies. He was followed by Smith (1959) and others. Roese and Winterbottom (1979), in a list of the South African gobies, which changed the generic status of many Indo-Pacific goby species, removed reichei to Favonigobius Whitely. Their approach was followed by Akihito et al. (1984), Roese (1986) and others. A comparison was made of the arrangement of the sensory papillae on the head of reichei to that of oplopomus (Valenciennes 1837) (the type species of the Oplopomus Valenciennes). The pattern of re3chei (as described in this paper) was found to be the same as in 0. oplopomus. I therefore regard reichei as a species of Oplopomus, although it lacks the spine on the preopercle margin and its anterior dorsal spines are not thicker than the others. It would appear that the generic status of this species will not be settled until a revision of the genera Oplopomus and Favonigobius has been carried out. The specimen from the Red Sea was compared with the holotype of Gobius reichei ~.nd found to be conspecific. Although geographic variation could be expected, the meristic counts (dorsal, anal and pectoral fm rays as well as scales along the body) of both fish were found to be identical (dorsal fm I 8; anal fin I 8; pectoral fms 16; scales along the body 26).

Oplopomus reichei (Bleeker 1853) new combination Figs. 1-2 1853 Gobius reichei Bleeker:509-510. Type locality: Padang, Sumatra. 1941 Acentrogobius reichei- Koumans:233-234. 1953 Acentrogobius reichei -Koumans:77-79. 1979 Favonigobius reichei-Hoese and Winterbottom:4, 6.

Received 3 February 1988 and in revised fonn 30 November 1988 238 M.GOREN Isr. J. Zool.

Fig. 1. Oplopomus reichei Bleeker from the Red Sea (fAU 9866).

Material TAU 9866, 1 spec. (male), total length 62.3 mm, standard length 50.9 mm, Nabeq, Sinai coast, Gulf ofElat, Red Sea, leg. L. Fishelson, October 1976. RMNH 4672, holotype of Gobius reichei, standard length 45.5 mm (caudal fin broken), Padang, Sumatra, leg. P. Bleeker, approx. 1853.

Description Body elongate and compressed. Head depressed. Upper profile slightly flattened. Mouth oblique, maxilla to below front of eye. Several rows of teeth on each jaw, the outer teeth enlarged, those on lower jaw larger, caniniform. Anterior nostril, a tube, above lip. Posterior nostril, a pore, in front of eye. Tongue truncate. Isthmus narrow. Gill opening to below anterior temporal pore. Gill rakers on anterior gill arch 0 + 1 + 7. Cephalic sensory system -pores: Nasal pores equidistant from anterior and posterior nostrils. Anterior interorbital pore above 1/4 of eye. Posterior interorbital pore, opening backwards, above posterior margin of eye. Five pores above opercle, three pores on posterior preopercular margin. Inter temporal and anterior temporal pores more distant from each other than the length of the posterior oculoscapular canal. A double diagonal line of papillae from a point below approximately 3/4 of eye to upper lip. A wide longitudinal band of papillae on cheek; upper and lower marginal papillae forming straight lines (Fig. 2). Proportions: standard length 82% of total length; head length 22% of total length; body depth 22% of total length; eye diameter 25% of head length; pectoral fin length 17% of total length; length 18% of total length. Scales: 26 scales along the body, 8 transverse scale rows, 4-5 scales on mid predorsal. Scales on sides of predorsal to above anterior temporal pore. The predorsal scales are partly embedded in the skin. Cycloid scales on predorsal, prepelvic and pectoral base; remaining scales are ctenoid Fins: dorsal fm: VI, I 8; anal fm: I 8; pectoral fms: 16, most of them branched. Dorsal fins lower than body depth. Second dorsal spine long and filamentous, reaching the 5th segmented ray of second dorsal fm. Caudal fin shorter than head. Pelvic fms, fully united with a well developed fraenum, reaching the anal fm. Formula of first dorsal pterygiophores: 3--22110 (count as in Birdsong et al., 1988). Vertebrae: 26, including urostyle (10 + 16). Colour (preserved): Body and head brownish, with many dark brown spots. Doubled and enlarged spots on midline of body. A dark stripe from eye to upper lip, continuing to