Pacific Science (1996), vol. 50, no. 4: 427-440 © 1996 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved Two New Soles of the Genus Aseraggodes (Pleuronectiformes: Soleidae) from the Hawaiian Islands 1 2 JOHN E. RANDALL ABSTRACT: A brief review is given of the literature of the soleid genus Ase­ raggodes, restricted to the Indo-Pacific region except for one species in the Ga­ lapagos Islands. Aseraggodes ocellatus, described from Sri Lanka by Weed (1961), is synonymized with Pardachirus pavoninus (Lacepede). Aseraggodes is represented in the Hawaiian Islands by two shallow-water endemic species: A. borehami Randall, n. sp., is distinct in its combination of having 71-75 dorsal rays; 49-52 anal rays; 66-70 lateral-line scales; a moderately elongate body (depth 2.55-2.8 in SL); front of upper lip not overlapping lower lip when mouth closed; caudal peduncle present but short; moderately large size (largest of 10 specimens, 102.8 mm SL); and an ocular-side color pattern of light brown with numerous irregular white spots, some scales variously edged in dark brown. Aseraggodes therese Randall, n. sp., has 72-79 dorsal rays; 54­ 61 anal rays; 60-66 lateral-line scales; body depth 2.25 to 2.75 in SL; front of upper lip overlapping lower lip when mouth closed; no caudal peduncle; small size (largest of27 specimens, 66 mm SL); and an ocular-side color pattern dominated by irregular dark brown blotches ofvariable size, the largest in three longitudinal series. UNTIL RECENTLY, THE FLATFISHES called soles on right side, separated by a narrow scaled were classified in one family, the Soleidae. space, the upper in advance of the lower; The Soleidae has now been divided into two no pectoral fins; a straight lateral line mid­ families, the Soleidae and the Achiridae, the laterally on both sides, with a short ante­ latter a New World group referred to as rodorsal branch on the blind side; scales American soles (Chapleau and Keast 1988, small and ctenoid; no prominent pores at Chapleau 1993). The species of Achiridae base of dorsal and anal fin rays; gill mem­ differ in having a free margin to the pre­ branes united, free from isthmus, the lower opercle and the right pelvic fin joined to part of head scaled over from ocular to blind the anal fin. The family Cynoglossidae, the side; jaws strongly curved; a band of villi­ tonguefishes, has been included by a few form teeth in jaws only on blind side; two authors within the Soleidae, a classification nostrils on each side, the anterior nostril of rejected by Nelson (1994) and others. The ocular side tubular and shorter than the eye, Soleidae consists of at least 20 genera; one of the posterior nostril a slit in the labial groove; the largest is Aseraggodes Kaup (1858), the dorsal fin orignating anteriorly on snout, the species of which are confined to the Indo­ first ray not prolonged; caudal fin not con­ Pacific region except for one from the Gala­ nected by membrane to dorsal and anal pagos Islands. fins, typically with 18 rays (usually 14-16 Aseraggodes is diagnosed as follows: eyes branched); caudal peduncle, if present, very short; pelvic fins short-based, with 5 rays; abdominal vertebrae 9. Chabanaud (1930a) reviewed the genus I Manuscript accepted 17 February 1996. 2Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Aseraggodes, recognizing 15 species; how­ Hawai'i, Box 1346, Kane'ohe, Hawai'i 96744; Bishop ever, Achirus melanospilus (Bleeker) is now Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, Hawai'i 96817. classified in Liachirus Gunther. Chabanaud 427 428 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 50, October 1996 (1930b) redescribed a sole from Queensland identified it "very provisionally" as Aserag­ that Norman (1926) identified as A. mela­ godes kobensis (Steindachner), one of two nostictus (Peters) and renamed it A. normani. species known from Japan (Ochiai 1963). Chabanaud (1931) described A. sinusarabici Additional fish collecting in Hawai'i has as new from the Gulf of Suez and Djibouti resulted in specimens of a second species of (an inappropriate specific name, because it the genus, and further study has revealed suggests an Arabian Gulf locality), and he that the Hawaiian material identified as A. transferred A. filiger Weber to the new genus kobensis represents an undescribed species. Coryphillus based on its contiguous eyes The purpose of this paper is to describe these and elongate first dorsal ray. Chabanaud two Hawaiian soles. (1943) created the new genus Synclidopus for A. macleayana (Ramsay) and A. nor­ mani; he also placed A. abnormis Weber & de MATERIALS AND METHODS Beaufort in a new genus, Beaufortella. Seale (1940) described A. herrd from one specimen Type specimens of the new species have from the Galapagos Islands. Weed (1961) been deposited in the Australian Museum, named A. ocellatus from Sri Lanka; how­ Sydney (AMS); the Natural History Museum, ever, this species is here synonymized with London (BMNH); Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Pardachirus pavoninus (Lacepede). Cha­ Honolulu (BPBM); California Academy of banaud in Morrow (1954) described Asera­ Sciences, San Francisco (CAS); National Sci­ ggodes morrowi from Kenya; however, ence Museum, Tokyo (NSMT); and the U.S. Heemstra and Gon in Smith and Heemstra National Museum ofNatural History, Wash­ (1984) correctly referred the species to the ington, D.C. (USNM). Some specimens of genus Pardachirus. Ochiai (1963) reviewed Aseraggodes therese were originally part of the Soleidae and Cynoglossidae of Japan; the University ofHawai'i (UH) fish collection. he proposed the subfamily Aseraggodinae Most fish specimens of this collection were for the genera Aseraggodes, Liachirus, Para­ transferred to the Bishop Museum collection chirus, and Pardachirus. Schultz (1943) re­ in 1974. corded a 35-mm sole from Hull Island, Lengths recorded for specimens are stan­ Phoenix Islands, that, he said, "may be a dard length (SL), measured from the front of specimen of Aseraggodes melanostictus (Pe­ the head at the base of the anterior dorsal ters)." Woods in Schultz and collaborators rays (the dorsal fin is more anterior than the (1966) added A. whitakeri and A. smithi as front of the snout on most species of Ase­ new from single specimens from the Mar­ raggodes) to the midbase of the caudal fin shall Islands and identified a specimen from (end of hypural plate); body depth is the Kwajalein Atoll as A. melanostictus "with greatest distance between the bases of the uncertainty." Randall and Melendez (1987) dorsal and anal fins (as determined by X ray described A. bahamondei from Easter Island or by transmitting a bright light through the and Lord Howe Island; they noted that the specimen); body thickness is the maximum closest relative to A. bahamondei is an un­ thickness between the ocular and blind sur­ described species from New South Wales well faces (but not over the abdomen); head represented by specimens in the Australian length is measured on the ocular side from Museum. The many specimens existing in the upper end of the gill opening to the front museums, including the Bishop Museum, of the head (base of anterior dorsal rays); that are identified only as Aseraggodes sp. snout length is taken from the same anterior attest to the need for a revision of the genus. point to the front of the upper eye; eye di­ A reappraisal is also needed of the generic ameter is the horizontal diameter of the up­ classification within the subfamily, particu­ per eye (the dark eyeball, not the fleshy outer larly with respect to the work of Chabanaud. cutaneous part, which is more variable); in­ Gosline and Brock (1960) recorded the first terorbital width is the least width between the soleid fish from the Hawaiian Islands. They dark edges of the two eyes; upper-jaw length New Soles, Aseraggodes, from Hawai'i-RANDALL 429 TABLE I PROPORTIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF TYPE SPECIMENS OF Aseraggodes borehami EXPRESSED AS PERCENTAGES OF THE STANDARD LENGTH HOLOTYPE PARATYPES BMNH AMS BPBM BPBM 1996. 1.37164- CAS BPBM BPBM USNM NSMT-P BPBM 7834 36804 1.24.1 001 85567 31030 33478 339301 48114 36867 Sex female ? female male female male male male male male Standard length (mm) 76.0 56.6 69.9 73.4 92.3 92.5 94.5 96.8 100.2 102.8 Body depth 39.5 37.6 38.0 37.9 38.2 37.8 37.9 37.9 36.1 37.2 Body thickness 7.0 7.8 7.4 6.4 7.3 7.0 7.4 7.2 7.0 7.4 Head length 23.9 23.5 24.0 23.4 23.5 22.9 23.0 23.5 22.7 22.0 Snout length 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.5 6.1 6.4 6.0 6.9 5.9 5.8 Eye diameter 3.8 3.9 4.6 4.0 3.8 4.1 3.3 3.9 3.3 3.1 Interorbital width 2.0 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.7 2.1 2.3 2.4 Upper jaw length 7.6 7.8 8.7 8.0 7.7 7.3 8.6 7.4 8.1 7.6 Caudal peduncle depth 13.0 12.2 12.3 13.1 12.5 13.0 13.1 13.0 13.1 12.9 Caudal peduncle length 3.7 2.6 3.7 3.8 3.3 3.3 3.2 4.0 3.4 4.0 Predorsal length 5.0 5.3 5.7 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.0 5.1 4.9 5.3 Preanal length 26.2 24.3 25.9 26.2 26.5 24.8 25.2 26.0 25.1 23.3 Prepelvic length 20.8 19.7 20.1 21.2 19.8 18.4 20.6 21.3 20.6 17.8 First dorsal ray 7.9 8.8 7.5 8.2 7.5 7.0 7.4 8.1 7.8 7.0 Longest dorsal ray 14.2 14.4 14.3 16.3 14.3 15.7 17.2 17.9 17.5 17.5 First anal ray 7.9 8.9 8.6 9.3 7.9 8.3 8.7 10.4 9.8 10.5 Longest anal ray 14.5 14.4 15.0 16.5 14.5 16.2 17.3 17.7 17.7 17.6 Caudal fin length 26.2 28.6 27.8 30.6 23.4 28.3 27.5 30.6 29.4 30.5 Pelvic fin length 11.6 12.0 12.9 13.0 10.7 11.9 12.3 11.3 12.7 12.8 is measured on the ocular side from the front fer to paratypes.