Japan. J. Ichthyol. 魚 類 学 雑 誌 41(1): 29-33, 1994 41(1): 29-33, 1 9 9 4

Arothron caeruleopunctatus, a New Puffer from the Indo-western Pacific

Keiichi Matsuura Department of Zoology,National ScienceMuseum (Nat. Hist. ) , 3-23-1 Hyakunin-cho,Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169, Japa n

(ReceivedOctober 19, 1993;in revisedform December21, 1993;accepted February 28, 1994 )

Abstract A new puffer, caeruleopunctatus,is described on the basis of four specimen s . Although similar to A. mappa and A. stellatus, it differsfrom them in having alternatingdark brown a nd pale blue lines encirclingthe eye, and many pale blue spots on the head and body. A. caeruleopunctatu s is distributed in the Indo-westernPacific region, from Reunionand the MaldiveIslands eastward throug h Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the Sea, and northward to Japan .

The puffer Arothron is characterized by aquarium trade specimens from an unknown locali- having each nostril with two fleshy tentacles formed ty. In addition to the above, underwater photo- by bifurcation of a single base and a continuous graphs of the (specimens not collected) taken without the supra-anal branch (Fraser- in tropical regions of the Indo-western Pacific were Brunner, 1943). Species of Arothron are widely sent to me through the courtesy of John E. Randall, distributed throughout the tropical regions of the Maurice Parmantier, and Helmut Debelius. This Indo-western Pacific. They have been distinguished new puffer is described below under the name Aroth- mostly by their distinctive color patterns because ron caeruleopunctatus. other external characters are not useful for separat- ing species; fin-ray counts greatly overlap among all the species, except for A. firmamentum, and propor- Methods tional measurements are not reliable because speci- mens are easily distorted in preservative. Although The methods for counts and measurements follow A. meleagris and A. nigropunctatus are polychromat- those of Dekkers (1975), with the exception that eye ic (Su and Tyler, 1986), the other species of Arothron diameter was taken as the largest diameter of the show species-specific color patterns. exposed eyeball and pectoral ray counts included the In the early days of this ongoing revisional study uppermost rudimentary ray. Paratype data are of the genus, I received from the late Dr. Peter shown in parentheses when different from the holo- Whitehead, then Curator at the British Museum type. Radiographs were used to count the number of (Nat. Hist.), a photograph of a large Arothron col- vertebrae. Institutional abbreviations follow Leviton lected from the Indian Ocean south of the Lesser et al. (1985). Sunda Islands. The specimen resembled Arothron mappa and A. stellatus, but differed in having many small, pale blue spots on the head and body, and Arothron caeruleopunctatus sp. nov. several circular lines around the eye. Unfortunately, (New Japanese name: Arare-fugu) it had been disposed of owing to the malfunctioning (Fig. 1, top two; Fig. 2) of the ship's freezer before the end of the voyage (P. Whitehead, pers. comm.). The specimen is figured in Arothronsp. Gloerfelt-Tarpand Kailola, 1984:294(Les s er "Trawled of southern Indonesia and north - Sunda Islands); Anonymous, 1989, back cover (Reu- nion). western Australia" (Gloerfelt-Tarp and Kailola, (non Bloch and Schneider) Masuda , 1984). 1984:194 (Maldive Islands); Masuda and Allen, 1987 : A long-term search for further material has re- 489 (Maldive Islands); Auerbach, 1991:229, fig. 245 sulted in four specimens: two from Japan, one from (Coral Sea). the Marshall Islands, and one discovered amongst

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Fig. 1. Top left-underwaterphotograph of Arothron caeruleopunctatus, about 50cm TL, Reunion (photo by M. Parmantier); top right-underwater photograph of A. caeruleopunctatus, about 80cm TL, Ari Atoll, Maldive Islands (photo by H. Debelius); bottom left-underwater photograph of A. mappa, about 50cm TL, Okinawa, Japan (photo by H. Masuda); bottom right-underwater photograph of A. stellatus, about 60 cm TL, Great Barrier Reef (photo by J.E. Randall).

Holotype. NSMT-P 45451,42.4cm in standard length flattened, bony interorbital width 2.4 (2.9) in head (SL), Marshall Islands, BikiniAtoll, Bikini Island, lagoon length (HL). Eye diameter 8.2 (8.9-11.3) in HL. side, 2m depth, spear, 22 Dec. 1985, collected by H. Kishimoto . Nasal organ located anteromedial to eye; two nasal Paratypes. NSMT-P 30925, 49.6cm SL, Japan, Hon- tentacles divided to base on each nostril, anterior and shu, Boso Peninsula,off Choshi,40-50m depth, trawl, July posterior tentacles almost equal in size. Head and 1989,collected by M. Taguchi; AMS I. 34603-001,49.1cm body covered with small spinules, except on posterior SL, East China Sea, Japan, Kyushu, Goto Islands, Oct. of caudal peduncle, around mouth, eye, gill opening, 1984,collected by T. Rikimura . Non-type specimen. NSMT-P 33507, 49.8cm SL, col- and on dorsal and anal fin bases. Caudal peduncle lectiondata unknown . compressed, depth 2.4 (2.6) in HL, length 1.7 (1.9- 2.0) in HL. Dorsal and anal fins rounded, origin of Diagnosis. Many small, pale blue spots on head dorsal anterior to that of anal; longest dorsal-fin ray and body. Eye encircled by alternating dark brown 2.2 (1.9) and longest anal-fin ray 2.0 (2.2) in HL; and pale blue lines. distance from snout to dorsal-fin origin 1.3 (1.4) in SL; distance from snout to anal-fin origin 1.3 (1.4) in Description. Dorsal rays 12 (11); anal rays 11 SL. Pectoral fin rounded; longest ray 2.9 (2.5-3.4) (10-12); pectoral rays 18 (19); caudal rays 11 (up- in HL. Caudal fin relatively short, 4.0 (5.0) in SL. permost and lowermost rays unbranched); vertebrae A single lateral line passing along body from caudal- 7+11=18. Body oblong, slightly compressed, other- fin base to above gill opening, where it branches into wise almost round in cross section; dorsal profile two lines; one crossing over nape to meet with oppo- gently arched. Head length 3.0 (2.8) in SL. Snout site element, the other encircling eye. A separate short, blunt, length 5.2 (4.9-5.1) in SL. Mouth lateral-line system just posterior to the mouth is not terminal, surrounded by thin lips. Interorbital space connected with its opposite element.

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Fig. 2. Arothron caeruleopunctatus, holotype, 42.4cm SI ., Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands (photo by 11. Kishimoto).

Color in life.-Lateral and dorsal aspects of head black blotches on pectoral fin base and gill opening; and body brown, covered with many pale blue spots; an encircling black line absent (or present) around ventral regions of head and body pale, with or with- anus; dorsal and anal fins covered with a fine net- out black blotches just below pectoral fin; eye en- work of dark brown and pale blue lines; membrane circled by alternating dark brown and pale blue lines; of pectoral fin pale, dark brown lines running Ion-

Table 1. Counts and measurements expressed as percentages of standard length in Arothron caeruleopunctatus

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Acknowledgments gitudinally on rays; proximal three-fourths (to four- fifths) of caudal fin covered with a fine network of dark brown and pale blue lines, distal one-fifth (to I express my thanks to the following persons: one-fourth) pale. Hirokazu Kishimoto, Osame Tabeta, and Michio Color in alcohol.-Head and body brown with Taguchi for donating the holotype and paratypes, as many dark brown spots, becoming pale ventrally; well as photographs of them; Helmut Debelius, black blotches present or absent on ventrolateral part Hajime Masuda, Maurice Parmantier and John E. of body just below pectoral fin; eye encircled by Randall for permission to use their beautiful under- alternating dark brown and pale lines; an encircling water photographs; and Junji Okuno for help with black line absent (or present) around anus; dorsal counting and measuring the specimens. The manu- and anal fins covered with a fine network of dark script was critically read by Graham S. Hardy. This brown and pale lines; membrane of pectoral fin pale, study was supported by a grant-in-aid from the Min- dark brown lines running longitudinally on rays; istry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan (no. proximal three-fourths (to four-fifths) of caudal fin 02640589). covered with reticulation of dark brown and pale lines, distal one-fifth (to one-fourth) pale. Literature Cited Remarks. Arothron caeruleopunctatus is a large Anonymous.1989. Un Arothronvoisin de A. mappa. Rev . puffer ranging in size from 54cm to 80cm in total Fr. Aquariol., 16: back cover (top figure) . length (TL). It is similar to the two Indo-west Auerbach,P.S. 1991. Divingthe rainbowreefs: adventure s Pacific species, A. mappa (Fig. 1, bottom left) and A. of an underwater photographer. Darwin Press, Prince - stellatus (Fig. 1, bottom right), but differs from them ton. 236pp . in having many pale blue spots on the head and body Dekkers, W.J. 1975. Review of the Asiatic freshwate r and alternating dark brown and pale blue lines which puffers of the genus Tetraodon Linnaeus, 1758 (Pisces , encircle the eye. Arothron mappa differs from A. ,). Bijidr. Dierk., 45 : caeruleopunctatus in having dark brown lines radiat- 87-142 . ing from the eye. Such lines are always present in Fraser-Brunner,A. 1943. Notes on the plectognath fishe s VIII. The classificationof the suborder Tetraodont - juveniles and adults of both sexes of the former. Although color patterns in A. stellatus change with oidea, with a synopsisof the genera. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (11), 10:1-1 8. growth, many black spots are always found on the Gloerfelt-Tarp,T. and P.P. Kailola. 1984. Trawled fishe s body in juveniles and adults of both sexes. This color of southern Indonesia and northwestern Australia. Aus - pattern distinguishes A. stellatus from A. caeruleo- tralian Development Assistance Bureau, Australi a punctatus. (ADAB); Directorate General of Fisheries, Indonesi a Arothron caeruleopunctatus seems to primarily in- (DGF); German Agency for Technical Cooperation , habit coral reefs, although the paratypes were col- Germany (GTZ). xvi+406pp., 3 pls . lected from temperate waters in Japan. They are Leviton,A.E., R.H. Gibbs,Jr., E. Heal and C.E. Dawson . considered to be incidental specimens, transported 1985. Standardsin herpetologyand ichthyology:Part I . by the warm Kuroshio Current from the tropical Standard symboliccodes for institutionalresource colle c - western Pacific. Arothron caeruleopunctatus is dis- tions in herpetologyand ichthyology.Copeia, 1985:80 2 832. tributed in the Indo-western Pacific from Reunion Masuda, H. 1984. Field guide for sea fishes. Tok ai (western Indian Ocean) and the Maldive Islands UniversityPress, Tokyo. 227pp. (In Japanese. ) (central Indian Ocean) eastward through Indonesia Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen. 1987. Sea fishesof the world . and Papua New Guinea to the Coral Sea, and north- Yama-keiPublishers Co., Ltd., Tokyo. 527pp. (In Jap a- ward to Japan. The specific epithet, caeruleopunc- nese. ) tatus, refers to the many pale blue spots on the head Su, J. and J.C. Tyler. 1986. Diagnoses of Arothro n and body. nigropunctautsand A. meleagris,two extremelypolych r o -

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matic Indo-Pacific pufferfishes (Pisces: Tetraodontidae). (新 称)を4個 体 の標 本 に基 づ いて 記 載 した.本 種 は ケ シ ョウ フ Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 138: 14-32. グArothron mappaと モ ヨ ウ フ グA. stellatusに似 て い る が,頭 部 と体 に 多数 の淡 青 色 点 が あ る こ と,眼 の周 囲 に 同心 円 状 の 淡 青 色 値 と褐 色 線 が あ る こ と に よ って識 別 さ れ る.本 種 は 西 部 イ ン ド洋 の レユ ニ オ ン,中 部 イ ン ド洋 の モ ル ジ ブ,西 部 太 平 洋 の イ ン イ ン ド ・西 太 平 洋 か ら 得 ら れ ら た モ ヨ ウ フ グ 属 の1新 種 ドネ シ ア,パ プ ア ニ ュー ギ ニ ア,日 本,マ ー シ ャル諸 島 お よび サ ンゴ海 に分 布 す る. 松 浦 啓 一 (〒169新 宿 区 百 人 町3-23-1国 立 科 学 博 物 館 動 物 研 究 モ ヨ ウ フ グ 属 の 新 種Arothron caeruleopunctatusア ラ レ フ グ 部)

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