New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

---

First records of Scorpaena onaria (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, and comparisons with the Northern Hemisphere population

Hiroyuki Motomura

Ichthyology
Australian Museum
6 College Street, Sydney
NSW 2010, Australia
email: motomurah@austmus.gov.au

Chris D. Paulin
Andrew L. Stewart

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
P. O. Box 467
Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract  Scorpaena onaria Jordan & Snyder (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae), previously known only from the northwestern Pacific Ocean, is reported from the southwestern Pacific Ocean for the first time on the basis of 19 specimens. The southwestern Pacific specimens are regarded as a southern population of S. onaria, characterised by a shorter supraocular tentacle and larger body size compared with the northwestern Pacific specimens. The southern population is described in detail including comparisons with all known Indo-Pacific species of the genus Scorpaena. Analyses of 37 measurements of the southern population of S. onaria found that relative orbit diameter and second anal-fin spine length became significantly smaller with growth. Initially cycloid, the scales enclosed by the posterior tips of the upper and lower opercular spines and opercular margin change to ctenoid with growth at c. 160-170 mm standard length. A mature female differed from an immature female and males in having a longer upper jaw, steeper dorsal profile of the snout, and shorter nasal spine. As a consequence, the species previously reported as S. neglecta from the Andaman Sea and northwestern Australia was re-identified as S. onaria.

Keywords  taxonomy; Scorpaenidae; first record; Scorpaena onaria; southwestern Pacific Ocean

M04145; Online publication date 17 June 2005 Received 22 October 2004; accepted 18 January 2005
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39: 865-880
0028-8330/05/3904-0865 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (9438K) | screen-quality (319K)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page