A new species of anchovy, Encrasicholina macrocephala (Clupeiformes:Engraulidae), from the northwestern Indian Ocean.

Abstract

A new species of anchovy, Encrasicholina macrocephala, is described on the basis of 17 specimens collected from the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The species is closely related to E. devisi in that both species have three unbranched rays in the dorsal and anal fins, and a long upper jaw (posterior tip extending beyond posterior margin of preopercle). However, the new species is distinguished from E. devisi in having lower counts of total pectoral-fin rays (11-14 vs. 13-15) and pseudobranchial filaments (15-18 vs. 18-22), longer head length (29.5-31.7% of standard length vs. 25.4-28.9% in the latter), upper-jaw length (21.3-23.5% vs. 14.6-21.3%), and lower-jaw length (19.5-21.2% vs. 14.2-19.5%), and a shorter distance between the dorsal-fin origin to the pectoral-fin insertion (83.2-95.2% of head length vs. 97.6-126.1%).