First Specimen-based Records of the Red-striped Hogfish (Perciformes: Labridae), Bodianus opercularis, from the Pacific Ocean, with an Assessment of the Species’ Distributional Records

Abstract

Two specimens (20.2 and 44.5 mm standard length) of a hogfish species Bodianus opercularis (Guichenot, 1847) (Labridae), previously considered endemic to the Indian Ocean including the Red and Arabian Seas, were collected from the Ogasawara Islands (Japan), West Pacific. The specimens, herein described in detail, represent the first specimen-based records of the species from the Pacific Ocean. A new standard Japanese name “Akashimatakibera” is proposed for the species, based on one of the specimens (KPM-NI 7936, 45.5 mm standard length). During this study, the previous distribution records of B. opercularis and Bodianus neopercularis Gomon, 2006, the latter considered an allopatric Western Pacific congener of B. opercularis, were re-assessed by re-identifying the individuals listed as previous records. Bodianus opercularis was found to be widely distributed in the following Indo-West Pacific locations: Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Kenya, Comoros, Madagascar, western Mascarene and Christmas Island (Indian Ocean); southern Japan and Marshall Islands (West Pacific Ocean). Reliable records of B. neopercularis were confirmed from only the Marshall Islands, West Pacific.