Page 6 - zt03963p054

TABLE 3. Proportional measurements (in % SL) and counts of the Kyphosus vaigiensis specimen caught off Favignana
Island. SL: Standard length.

Proportional measurements (in % SL) Counts

Total length (mm) 475 Dorsal fin spines XI
Fork length (mm) 445 Dorsal fin soft rays 13
Standard length (mm) 380 Anal fin spines III
Head length 26.3 Anal fin soft rays 11
Body width 15.8 Pectoral fin rays 20
Body depth 44.7 Pelvic fin rays I, 5
Caudal peduncle length 10.5 Caudal fin rays 17
Caudal peduncle depth 9.2 Gill rakers upper limb on first gill arch 8
Snout length 5.3 Gill rakers lower limb on first gill arch 22
Eye diameter 3.9 Gill rakers, total on first gill arch 30
Interorbital width 9.2 Pored scales in lateral line 55
Upper jaw length 5.3 Scale rows above lateral line 11
Preanal length 65.8 Scale rows below lateral line 21
Dorsal fin base length 55.3 Scale rows in longitudinal row 60
Soft dorsal fin base length 26.3 Incisor-like teeth on upper jaw 25
Spinous dorsal fin base length 23.7 Incisor-like teeth on lower jaw 24
6th dorsal spine length 10.5 Cheek scales 16

4th dorsal ray length 7.9

2nd anal ray length 10.0

Pectoral fin length 18.4

Anal fin base length 26.3

Caudal fin length 23.7

Pelvic fin length 14.5

Sequences comparison with co-generic species. The COI sequence of the Sicilian specimen matched (100%
similarity) the reference sequences of K. vaigiensis and two sequences identified as K. incisor (A.N. KF461190 and
JQ841613), building a vaigiensis-incisor clade, within which a deeper lineage of K. incisor was also scored (Figure
2A). These last two specimens of K. incisor (A.N. JQ365389 and JX124794), captured in the southern Atlantic
Ocean (Brazil), showed genetic differences that deserve further investigations.

For all the COI barcodes, K2P distances ranged from 0.000 to 0.062 (Figure 2A).
Although the number of reference sequences for the 16S marker were limited, some sequences of specimens
captured in Mediterranean were available, as labeled with "MED" in the NJ tree (Figure 2B). For the whole 16S
dataset, K2P distances ranged from 0.000 to 0.017, where the highest value corresponded to the interspecific
variation between K. vaigiensis and K. sectatrix. The 16S pattern was congruent with the one for the COI gene,
supporting the existence of a K. vaigiensis clade. The COI and 16S sequences of the Sicilian specimen matched
sequences of Atlantic specimens of K. incisor, and Atlanto-Indo-Pacific specimens of K. vaigiensis, as a result of
K2P distance values (intra vaigiensis-incisor clade distance: 0.000–0.011 for COI; 0.0–0.004 for 16S).
The 16S sequence of the examined Sicilian specimen also supported the placement of the K. sectatrix
specimen recorded by Ligas et al. (2011) (A.N. KC136382) into K. vaigiensis (Knudsen & Clements, 2013a)
(Figure 2B). By contrast, the 16S barcode of the K. sectatrix specimen collected in the Mediterranean Ionian Sea
(Kiparissis et al., 2012) maintained its own genetic identity, suggesting that this specimen was correctly identified.
In fact, K. sectatrix and K. bigibbus (Lacepède, 1801) fall out as distinct sister species (Figure 2A).

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