Page 2 - zt03963p054

consider K. bosquii (Lacepède, 1802), the only species they recognize as occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, to be
the valid name for K. sectatrix.

Following the revision by Knudsen & Clements (2013a), the first recorded specimen of K. vaigiensis in the
Mediterranean was captured off Almuñécar, Granada, Spain, in 1998 (identified as K. incisor, Azzurro et al.,
2013). Two specimens were caught off Camogli, Ligurian Sea, Italy, in 2009 (identified as K. incisor, Orsi-Relini et
al., 2010). Another specimen captured in the Ligurian Sea (identified as K. saltatrix, an invalid name for K.
sectatrix, by Ligas et al., 2011) was recognized as K. vaigiensis following molecular analysis and re-examination
of its morphological characters (Knudsen & Clements, 2013a). In 2013, yet another specimen of K. vaigiensis was
captured off Almuñécar (identified as K. incisor, Peña-Rivas & Azzurro, 2013).

Recently, a Kyphosus specimen (Figure 1) was caught off Favignana Island, western Sicily, Italy (central
Mediterranean Sea). Here, we integrate morphological and meristic characters with analysis of mitochondrial DNA
segments to identify this specimen. Its stomach contents were also examined to provide qualitative and quantitative
information on its diet.

TABLE 1. Some taxonomic incongruences between the revisions by Knudsen & Clements (2013a) and Sakai & Nakabo
(2014) on the Kyphosus species this paper is interested in.

According to Knudsen & Clements (2013a):

Valid name Synonyms Species range
Atlantic–Mediterranean–Indo-Pacific
K. bigibbus K. (syn. Pimelepterus) bosquii Atlantic–Mediterranean–Indo-Pacific
Atlantic–Mediterranean–Indo-Pacific
K. cinerascens Atlantic–Mediterranean–Indo-Pacific

K. sectatrix K. pacificus Species range
Atlantic
K. vaigiensis K. incisor Atlantic–Mediterranean
Atlantic
According to Sakai & Nakabo (2014): Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific
Valid name Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific
K. atlanticus (formerly as K. sectatrix)

K. bosquii (formerly as K. sectatrix)

K. incisor

K. bigibbus

K. cinerascens

K. pacificus

K. vaigiensis

Material and methods

Morphology and stomach content analysis. A single specimen was caught on 17 September 2013 off Favignana
Island (37°55’34”N, 12°19’16”E, Marine Protected Area “Egadi Islands”, western Sicily), in shallow waters,
approximately 3 m depth, on a hard bottom. It was caught by fishing line at night, likely attracted by the
fisherman’s light.

The individual was photographed and identified on the basis of meristic and morphometric characters reported
by Knudsen & Clements (2013a). Measurements were taken with a dial caliper and converted to percent of
standard length (SL). The stomach was removed and its contents examined under light microscope (Zeiss, Stemi
SV 11 Apo), and weighed to the nearest 0.01 g.

Muscle tissue was excised and preserved in absolute alcohol for subsequent DNA analysis. The specimen was
frozen and deposited, together with muscle tissue and archival organic DNA, in the Zoological Museum of the
University of Palermo (MZPA, accession number PL-391; Figure 1).

Extraction of DNA and PCR. Total genomic DNA extraction was carried out using the Genomic DNA
Extraction Kit Tissue (RBCBioscience, Taiwan). Two target mitochondrial markers were amplified using universal
primers. A 680 base pair (bp) region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was amplified using primers

46 · Zootaxa 3963 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press MANNINO ET AL.