The Australian Sinistral Flounder Arnoglossus aspilos praeteritus (Actinopterygii: Pleuronectiformes: Bothidae) Reassigned as a Valid Species of Engyprosopon

Abstract

Nine specimens of a flatfish collected from Western Australia were tentatively identified as Arnoglossus aspilos praeteritus Whitley, 1950. The original description of this subspecies is brief and the validity of the taxon had not been investigated, despite its inclusion in subsequent short notes and lists. Our examination of the new material and the type series of A. aspilos praeteritus reveals that this taxon clearly differs from the members of the genus Arnoglossus in having a well-defined interorbital space and split hypurals. It differs subtly from A. aspilos (Bleeker, 1851) in appearance, although both taxa closely resemble each other in most counts and proportional measurements. Arnoglossus aspilos praeteritus is herein redescribed and reassigned as a valid species of the genus Engyprosopon, viz., E. praeteritus. This species differs from other species of Engyrposopon in having a series of dark blotches on the dorsal and anal fins and a pair of small black blotches on the caudal fin, and by lacking sexual differences in morphology and coloration.