title: A new species of the sandperch genus Parapercis from the western Indian Ocean (Perciformes: Pinguipedidae).
abstract: Parapercis albiventer sp. nov., a new species of sandperch is described based on 12 specimens collected from the western Indian Ocean. It can be distinguished from congeners by having a bright white ventral surface, without color markings on lower fourth of body; dorsal surface of head and body densely covered by small brown spots; a row of 10 faint reddish blotches on a paler background, along body axis; row of 10 deep reddish blotches, the lower part of each blotch with a solid black bar ventrally, below mid-lateral body axis; and combination of following characters: no palatine teeth; snout long; eye small; interorbital space broad; dorsal-fin rays V, 21; anal-fin rays I, 17; pectoral-fin rays 16-17; pored lateral-line scales 55-59; predorsal scales 9 or 10; scales on transverse row 6/17-21; 3 pairs of canine teeth at front of lower jaw; and vertebrae 10 + 20 = 30.
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, Pintung, Taiwan Institute of Marine Biodiversity & Evolutionary Biology, National Done Hwa University, Pingtung, Taiwan; Email: ogcoho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hsuan-Ching
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: South Africa Institute of Aquatic Biology, Grahamstown, South Africa; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Phillip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Heemstra
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Marine Biology and Biodiversity, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D019156:Indian Ocean; D008270:Madagascar; D008297:Male; D009073:Mozambique; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D013019:South Africa