FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Volume 12 FIR/S125 Vol. 12 FAO SPECIES CATALOGUE VOL. 12 NEMIPTERID FISHES OF THE WORLD (Threadfin breams, Whiptail breams, Monocle breams, Dwarf monocle breams and Coral breams) An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Nemipterid Species Known to Date FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Volume 12 FIR/S125 Vol.12 FAO SPECIES CATALOGUE VOL. 12. NEMIPTERID FISHES OF THE WORLD (Threadfin breams, Whiptail breams, Monocle bream s, Dwarf monocle breams, and Coral breams) Family Nemipteridae An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Nemipterid Species Known to Date by Barry C. Russell Northern Territory Museum P.O. Box 4646 Darwin, NT 0801, Australia. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 1990 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion what- soever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. M-40 ISBN 92-5-103031-6 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. © FAO Rome 1990 iii PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT Nemipterid fishes (threadfin breams, whiptail breams, monocle breams, dwarf monocle breams and coral breams) are of significant interest to fisheries throughout the Indo-West Pacific region. Despite their economic importance, however, the classification of this group of fishes is confused, and because of difficulties with the correct identification of species, information on their biology and fisheries also is rather scanty. The author of the present catalogue is undertaking a worldwide revision of the family Nemipteridae. This work is near completion, but final publication may take several more years. Because of their importance to fisheries, and to avoid undue delay to fishery workers who require this basic information for their daily work, taxonomic information to date on nemipterid fishes is presented here. This catalogue is based on a comprehensive review of the literature; on the study of type specimens kept in the major museum collections throughout the world; and on extensive collection and examination of fresh material, particularly from the southeast Asian region. In view of the importance of colour patterns as diagnostic characters for identification, colour plates for most species have been included. Technical Editors: W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, and K. Carpenter, Fisheries Resources and Environment Division, FAO. Illustrators: T. Wongratana, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, P. Lastrico, O. Lidonnici and the late D. Eggleston, FAO, Rome. Page composition: M. Kautenberger-Longo, FAO, Rome. Russell, B.C. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 12.Nemipterid Fishes of the World. (Threadfin breams, Whiptail breams, Monocle breams, Dwarf monocle breams, and Coral breams). Family Nemipteridae. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Nemipterid Species known to Date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125, Volume 12. Rome, FAO. 1990. 149 p., VIII plates. ABSTRACT This is the twelfth issue in the FAO series of world-wide annotated and illustrated catalogues of major groups of organisms that enter marine fisheries. The present volume on the family Nemipteridae includes 62 species belonging to 5 genera. It comprises an introductory section with general remarks on the systematics, habitat and fisheries of the family, a glossary of technical terms used, illustrated keys to genera and species, and detailed accounts on all species. Species accounts include drawings, scientific and vernacular names, information on habitat, biology and fisheries, and a distribution map. Lists of nominal species in the family, a table of species by major marine fishing areas, and colour plates follow the species accounts. The work is fully indexed and there is comprehensive reference to pertinent literature. Distribution Author FAO Fisheries Officers Regional Fisheries Councils and Commissions Selector SC click for next page click for previous page iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ......... ......................................... 1 1.1 Plan of the Catalogue ............................................. 3 1.2 General Remarks on Nemipterids ...................................... 4 1.3 Illustrated Glossary of Technical Terms and Measurements ...................... 10 2. SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE ............................................ 14 2.1 Diagnostic features of the Family Nemipteridae .............................. 14 2.2 Notes on the Identification of Nemipterids ................................. 14 2.3 Illustrated key to Genera and Species of Monotypic Genera ...................... 15 2.4 Information by Species ............................................ 16 Code Nemipterus ................... NEMIP Nem .................... 16 Key to the Species of Nemipterus ... ................ ................. 17 Nemipterus aurifilum ........... NEMIP Nem 14 .................... 26 Nemipterus balinensis .......... NEMIP Nem 15 .................... 27 Nemipterus balinensoides ....... NEMIP Nem 16 .................... 28 Nemipterus bathybius .......... .......... NEMIP Nem 1 .................... 30 Nemipterus bipunctatus ......... NEMIP Nem 2 . ................... 31 Nemipterus celebicus ........... NEMIP Nem 17 .................... 33 Nemipterus furcosus ........... NEMIP Nem 10 .................... 34 Nemipterus gracilis ............ NEMIP Nem 18 .................... 36 Nemipterus hexodon ............ NEMIP Nem 3 .................... 37 Nemipterus isacanthus .......... NEMIP Nem 19 .................... 38 Nemipterus japonicus .......... NEMIP Nem 4 .................... 40 Nemipterus marginatus .......... NEMIP Nem 20 .................... 42 Nemipterus mesoprion ........... NEMIP Nem 6 .................... 43 Nemipterus nematophorus ....... NEMIP Nem 8 .................... 45 Nemipterus nematopus .......... NEMIP Nem 21 .................... 46 Nemipterus nemurus ........... NEMIP Nem 9 .................... 48 Nemipterus peronii ............ NEMIP Nem 12 .................... 49 Nemipterus randalli ............ NEMIP Nem 22 .................... 51 Nemipterus sp. 1 .. .......... NEMIP Nem 23 .................... 52 Nemipterus sp. 2 . ........... NEMIP Nem 5 .................... 53 Nemipterus sp. 3 ............. .............. NEMIP Nem 24 .................... .................... 55 Nemipterus tambuloides ........ NEMIP Nem 11 .................... 56 Nemipterus theodorei .......... NEMIP Nem 25 .................... 58 Nemipterus virgatus ............ NEMIP Nem 13 .................... 59 Nemipterus vitiensis ........... NEMIP Nem 26 .................... 61 Nemipterus zysron .............. NEMIP Nem 7 .................... 62 Parascolopsis ................. NEMIP Para . .. .................. 63 Key to the Species of Parascolopsis ..... ............... .............. 64 Parascolopsis aspinosa ......... NEMIP Para 1 ........ .. ........... 67 Parascolopsis boesemani ........ NEMIP Para 2 ....... .. ............ 68 Parascolopsis eriomma .......... NEMIP Para 3 ........ .. ........... 69 Parascolopsis inermis .......... NEMIP Para 5 .... .. ............... 71 Parascolopsis qantasi .......... NEMIP Para 6 .... .. ............... 72 Parascolopsis rufomaculatus ...... NEMIP Para 7 ... .. ................ 73 Parascolopsis tanyactis ......... NEMIP Para 8 ... .. ................ 74 Parascolopsis tosensis .......... NEMIP Para 9 ... .. ................ 75 Parascolopsis townsendi ........ NEMIP Para 4 .... .. ............... 77 v Code Page Pentapodus .................. NEMIP Pent .. .. ................ 78 Key to Species of Pentapodus ...................................... 79 Pentapodus bifasciatus ... ....... NEMIP Pent 1 .................. 82 Pentapodus caninus .... ........ NEMIP Pent 2 .................. 83 Pentapodus emeryii ............. NEMIP Pent 3 .................. 84 Pentapodus nagasakiensis .. ...... NEMIP Pent 4 .................. 86 Pentapodus paradiseus .......... NEMIP Pent 5 .................. 87 Pentapodus porosus ............. NEMIP Pent 6 .................. 88 Pentapodus setosus ............. NEMIP Pent 7 .................. 89 Pentapodus sp. ................ NEMIP Pent 8 .................. 91 Pentapodus trivittatus ........... NEMIP Pent 9 .................. 92 Pentapodus vitta ............... NEMIP Pent 10 .................. 93 Scaevius ... .... ............... NEMIP Scaev .... .............. 95 Scaevius milii .................. NEMIP Scaev 1 .................. 95 Scolopsis .. ... ................ NEMIP Scol ... .. ... ............ 96 Key to Species of Scolopsis .. ...................... ................ 97 Scolopsis affinis . ................ NEMIP Scol 9 .................. 103 Scolopsis auratus . .............. NEMIP Scol 3 .................. 104 Scolopsis bilineatus . ............. NEMIP Scol 4 .................. 105 Scolopsis bimaculatus. ............ NEMIP Scol 5 .................. 107 Scolopsis ciliatus . ............... NEMIP Scol