RESEARCH ARTICLE
Redescription of Coryphopterus
tortugae (Jordan) and a new allied species Coryphopterus
bol (Perciformes: Gobiidae: Gobiinae) from the
tropical western Atlantic Ocean
Benjamin C. Victor
Abstract
A re-examination
of the holotype and mtDNA barcoding confirms Garzon-Ferreira
and Acero's separation of Coryphopterus tortugae
from C. glaucofraenum. However, specimens matching
the markings of their Santa Marta variant of C.
tortugae comprise a distinct clade about 10% sequence
divergent from true C. tortugae and C. glauco-fraenum.
The variant is described here as a new species, the
sand-canyon goby Coryphopterus bol, from specimens
collected in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and
the Atlantic coast of Panama. The new species is abundant
and widespread in the region and has not been recognized
as distinct from the bridled goby, C. glauco-fraenum.
C. bol can be distinguished from C. tortugae
by markings: a dark oval spot on the lower third of
the pectoral-fin base, a chain-link pattern of melanophores
on the top of the head, and a thick C-shaped basicaudal
mark and scale-edges outlined in lines of tiny melanophores
on well-marked individuals. Putative bridled gobies
from three different reef types were sampled: a wide
and clearly-zoned shelf in the Greater Antilles (off
La Parguera, Puerto Rico), a narrower mixed-zone island
of the Lesser Antilles (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands),
and narrow fringing continental reefs in the Southern
Caribbean (the Atlantic coast of Panama near Portobelo).
In all three locations, C. bol was found in
deeper and more offshore reef areas with strong currents,
i.e. in the channels of the buttress-canyon zone just
inshore of the drop-off in Puerto Rico, around exposed
rocky points in St. Thomas, and on wave-swept reefs
just offshore of the sediment-influenced coastline
in Panama.
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CITATION:
Victor, B.C. (2008) Redescription
of Coryphopterus tortugae (Jordan) and a new
allied species Coryphopterus bol (Perciformes:
Gobiidae: Gobiinae) from the tropical western Atlantic
Ocean. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation,
1, 1-19.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1034412
publication date: 15 February
2008
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