Species Diversity 22: 219–223 25 November 2017 DOI: 10.12782/sd.22_219 First Confirmed Record of the Samoan Pipefish Halicampus mataafae (Perciformes: Syngnathidae) from Japan Kunto Wibowo1,2,4 and Hiroyuki Motomura3 1 Graduate School of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, 4-50-20 Shimoarata, Kagoshima 890-0056, Japan 2 Research Center for Oceanography, LIPI, Jl. Pasir Putih I, Ancol Timur, Jakarta 14430, Indonesia E-mail:
[email protected] 3 The Kagoshima University Museum, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan 4 Corresponding author (Received 6 September 2017; Accepted 25 September 2017) A single specimen (135.5 mm standard length) of the Indo-West Pacific species Halicampus mataafae (Jordan and Seale, 1906), previously known to range from the Red Sea and South Africa to Taiwan and Australia, was collected from Yoron Island, Amami Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. A detailed description is given for the specimen, being the first col- lected from Japanese waters and northernmost record of the species. Key Words: description, distribution, Yoron Island, Amami Islands, Ryukyu Islands. as HL and SL, respectively. Descriptive characters are based Introduction on the Yoron Island specimen. Curatorial procedures fol- lowed Motomura and Ishikawa (2013), the specimen being The pipefish genus Halicampus Kaup, 1856 is charac- deposited in the Kagoshima University Museum, Kagoshi- terized by 39–56 total rings, including 13–18 trunk rings; ma, Japan (KAUM). 16–26 dorsal-fin rays; 2.75–6.5 suborbital rings; 10–20 pectoral-fin rays; 2–4 anal-fin rays; 10 caudal-fin rays; su- Halicampus mataafae (Jordan and Seale, 1906) perior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous; inferior trunk [English name: Samoan Pipefish; new standard Japanese ridge ending at anal fin; and lateral trunk ridge confluent name: Chabana-umiyakko] with inferior tail ridge (Dawson 1985).