title: Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall (Perciformes, Mullidae), a new subspecies of goatfish from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
abstract: The number of goatfish species has increased recently, thanks in part to the application of molecular approaches to the taxonomy of a family with conservative morphology and widespread intraspecific color variation. A new subspecies Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus Fernandez-Silva & Randall is described from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, including Socotra and Gulf of Oman. It is characterized by a yellow caudal fin, 25-28 gill rakers, and 37-38 lateral-line scales and it is differentiated from nominal subspecies Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus by 1.7% sequence divergence at the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The morphometric examination of specimens of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavolineatus revealed variation in head length, eye diameter, and barbel length, in western direction from the Hawaiian Islands, South Pacific, Micronesia, and the East Indies to the Indian Ocean. The population of Mulloidichthys flavolineatus flavicaudus subsp. n. in the Gulf of Aqaba differs from that of the remaining Red Sea by shorter barbels, smaller eyes, shorter head, and shorter pelvic fins. We present a list of 26 endemic fishes from the Gulf of Aqaba and discuss the probable basis for the endemism in the light of the geological history of this region.
authors.affiliation: Section of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118, U.S.A.; Departament of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, Campus Universitario, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Iria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Silva
authors.affiliation: Bishop Museum, Honolulu, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817, U.S.A.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Randall
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Golani
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt a.M., Germany; Station of Naturalists, Tulenina Str 13-29, Omsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Bogorodsky
keywords: cytb; glacial refugia; marine fish; phylogeography; taxonomy; vicariance