Pampus cinereus (Bloch, 1795) (Stromateidae), a species believed to be widely distributed throughout the Indo-Western Pacific region, was redescribed and a neotype was designated. The designation of a neotype was necessary because of ambiguous data in Bloch's original description and the loss of the original type specimen. Morphological data indicated that 10 recently-collected specimens from the coasts of southern China agreed well with Bloch's original description and figure of P. cinereus. A neotype for this species was selected from among the 10 specimens, and a detailed description is presented in this paper.
A new record of Pagrus caeruleostictus(Valenciennes,1830),collected from the Beibu Gulf,South China Sea in April 2013,was documented based on morphology and cytochrome oxidase I subunit(COI) gene barcoding analyses. It can be distinguished by a combination of the following characteristics: head scaled to above eyes; cheeks with 5 or 6 rows of scales; lateral line scales 51–52; 5 rows of scales above the lateral line; 4 and 6 cuspidate teeth in front of upper and lower jaws,respectively,followed by 2 rows of blunter teeth posteriorly; gill rakers on first arch 12 to 15; D XI–XII +9–11; A III +8–9; the first two dorsal spines very short,the third to fifth extended,filamentous in the young; the first pelvic ray filamentous; silvery pink with dark blue spots on back and sides; caudal fin pinkish; other fins bluish or pinkish; the blue spots generally disappear in large specimens. The present report of P. caeruleostictus suggests that its distribution in Chinese coastal waters may be attributed to human effort,since this species is unlikely to have expanded naturally from the eastern Atlantic to the South China Sea,with no other records from the Indian or Pacific Oceans. We recommend that a precautionary approach should be adopted for the management of P. caeruleostictus.
Sparids are of considerable economic importance in marine fishery and aquaculture in China, and the species diversity of this group is considered relatively high. However, the accurate species identification and delimitation of sparids in China remain unaddressed. In this study, we used mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit ?(COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA(16S) genes to conduct DNA barcoding and species delimitation in eleven sparid species from the coastal waters of China. Based on Kimura-2 parameter genetic distances, the mean intraspecific/interspecific variation for COI and 16S were calculated as 0.004/0.152 and 0.002/0.072, respectively. All the conspecific individuals formed monophyletic clusters in neighbour-joining trees of both markers. An obvious barcoding gap was detected for each species, and a common genetic threshold of 1.3% sequence divergence was defined for species delimitation in both markers. Although the sequence variation of 16S was generally lower than that of COI, the results indicated that sparid species could be ef fectively and accurately identified and delimited by COI as well as 16S. Thus, we propose that the COI gene serve as the standard DNA barcode for sparids, and that the 16S gene could also be an ideal candidate barcode. Moreover, each of the six sparid species( Argyrops spinifer, Rhabdosargus sarba, Dentex hypselosomus, Acanthopagrus latus, Acanthopagrus australis and Acanthopagrus berda) showed high intraspecific divergence(>1.3% genetic threshold) with the remarkable geographic lineages in the Indo-West Pacific oceans, which supported that potential unrecognized cryptic species were in them. The potential cryptic diversity revealed here might be primarily attributed to the allopatric divergences caused by the long-term geographic isolation between the Indian and West Pacific oceans or between the opposite sides of the Indian Ocean. The results further suggest that a revision of taxonomic status of these species is required, followed by development of a biodiversity conservation
