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Doderlein’s description reports 80 scales in longitudinal row (Doderlein, 1883), exceeding the number of
scales of all known species of Kyphosus. Fortunately, the stuffed specimen is preserved in the Zoological Museum
of the University of Palermo (MZPA, accession number P-247; Figure 4), and its re-examination confirmed that it
was an error, indeed we counted 56 scales in the longitudinal row. According to Knudsen and Clements (2013a),
this character together with dorsal fin spines (XI), dorsal fin soft rays (12), anal fin spines (III), anal fin soft rays
(11) and the length of the second anal fin ray (8.6% SL) lead to identify it as K. sectatrix.
The specimen has also been erroneously classified in the collection of the Museum, and further molecular
analyses are advisable.
It is noteworthy to point out that the past Kyphosus record captured in 1883 (Doderlein, 1883) proves that such
genus is capable of dispersal covering long distances and the ability to survive in and colonize a different
geographical range. Golani et al. (http://www.ciesm.org/atlas/Kyphosusincisor.php, viewed January 11, 2015)
considered that K. vaigiensis (reported as K. incisor) entered the Mediterranean as “ship associated introductions
via Gibraltar”. Zenetos et al. (2012) considered the records (again reported as K. incisor) as stemming from natural
range expansion rather than a human mediated introduction. The two species—K. sectatrix and K. vaigiensis—
recorded in the Mediterranean also occur in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific (including the Red Sea) (Knudsen &
Clements, 2013a). Whether these species have established populations in the Mediterranean, or represent rare, or
occasional, ephemeral entries through the Suez Canal or the Strait of Gibraltar, remains unknown, though the
records in the Alboran Sea and the western Mediterranean suggest the latter is the likelier event.
FIGURE 4. specimen stored at the Zoological Museum of the University of Palermo (MZPA), accession number P-247 (see
the text for the details).
52 · Zootaxa 3963 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press MANNINO ET AL.
