Seaver splitfin, Luzonichthys seaver Copus, Ka'apu-Lyons & Pyle 2015

Summary:

A mostly bright pink splitfin with a yellow head, anterior body, dorsal and anal fins, a salmon pink gill cover and lower half of body, and a yellow caudal fin with distinctive bright pink blotches on the base of both lobes.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Luzonichthys seaver in Fishes of Australia, accessed 19 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5560

Seaver splitfin, Luzonichthys seaver Copus, Ka'apu-Lyons & Pyle 2015

More Info

Distribution	Coral Sea off the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Inhabits mesophotic reefs. The type specimens were collected from a rock outcrop along a steep slope at the top of top of the drop-off.
Features	Dorsal fin X,16, the first two soft rays simple; Anal fin III,7, the first spine very small and difficult to detect, first ray simple; Pectoral fin 19-21, the upper most and lower most rays simple; Pelvic fin (branched rays) I,5; Caudal fin (branched rays) 13, simple upper and lower segmented caudal rays 4, upper and lower procurrent caudal rays 13; G ill rakers 8 + 18-19; Lateral line scales 63-64; Scales above lateral line to origin of dorsal fin 5; Scales below lateral line to origin of anal fin 12. Body moderately elongate, depth 3.86-4.6 in SL; head length 3.41-3.54 in SL; snout 3.86-4.0 in HL; caudal fin forked, with filamentous rays, caudal concavity 8.36-8.5 in SL; pectoral fins 3.86-4.38 in SL; pelvic fins 5.67-6.54 in SL.
Colour	Colour of holotype in life: head excluding operculum predominately yellow (many scales with yellow margins and pink centers), yellow extending posteriorly on upper half of body from a line starting at approximately the tip of the opercular flap and top of pectoral fins to the eighth dorsal ray, fading to bright pink posteriorly. Operculum to lower half of body salmon pink. Pectoral and pelvic fins pale. Dorsal fins yellow with bases of rear dorsal rays pink. Anal fin rays yellow with pale membranes. Upper and lower base of caudal fin pink, extending posteriorly to approximately halfway to the tips; center of base of caudal fin white, fading to pale; posterior half of caudal fin yellow. Lower base of caudal peduncle with yellow band.
Similar Species	The similar Luzonichthys earlei differs in coloration in having an orange head, upper half of body, and dorsal and anal fins, and the caudal fin with drab, diffuse orange blotches and pale yellow distal caudal lobes.
Etymology	The species is named seaver in recognition of support from the Seaver Institute. (The paper states "for the Seaver family", however, this was apparently included in error).
Species Citation	Luzonichthys seaver Copus, Ka'apu-Lyons & Pyle 2015, Biodiversity Data Journal 3.e4902: 3, Fig. 1. Type locality: Western Pacific Ocean, Micronesia, Caroline Islands, Senyavin (Pohnpei) Islands, southwest end of Ahnd (Ant) Atoll, depth 90-100 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Catalog of Fishes

Seaver splitfin, Luzonichthys seaver Copus, Ka'apu-Lyons & Pyle 2015

References

Copus, J.M., Ka'apu-Lyons, C.A. & Pyle, R.L. 2015. Luzonichthys seaver, a new species of Anthiinae (Perciformes, Serranidae) from Pohnpei, Micronesia. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.3.e4902

Shepherd, B., Pinheiro, H.T., Phelps, T.A.Y., Pérez-Matus, A. & Rocha, L.A. 2019. Luzonichthys kiomeamea (Teleostei: Serranidae: Anthiadinae), a new species from a mesophotic coral ecosystem of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 33: 17-27. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3237914