Second records of Suezichthys notatus (Teleostei: Labridae) from Japanese waters

Abstract

The labrid genus Suezichthys Smith, 1958 includes 11 valid species, four of which have been recorded from the Japanese waters. Three specimens (125.2–137.7 mm standard length) of the Northern Rainbow Wrasse Suezichthys notatus (Kamohara, 1958) were collected from Tosa Bay and the East China Sea. These specimens possess the following characters: dorsal-fin rays IX, 11; anal-fin rays III, 10; scale rows above lateral line 2 1/2; lateral-line scales 25, each with unbranched laterosensory canal tube; and dark brownish blotches on head and body above pectoral fin. Suezichthys notatus, distributed in scattered localities of the eastern Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, has been recorded only from Okino-shima island, Kochi Prefecture, on the basis of a holotype in the Japanese waters. Therefore, the present specimens represent the second records of the species from Japan.