Abstract
A new species of triplefin fish (Blenniiformes: Tripterygiidae), Helcogramma williamsi, is described from six specimens collected from southern Taiwan. This species is well distinguished from its congeners by possessing 13 second dorsal-fin spines; third dorsal-fin rays modally 11; anal-fin rays modally 19; pored scales in lateral line 22-24; dentary pore pattern modally 5+1+5; lobate supraorbital cirrus; broad, serrated or palmate nasal cirrus; first dorsal fin lower in height than second; males with yellow mark extending from anterior tip of upper lip to anterior margin of eye and a whitish blue line extending from corner of mouth onto preopercle. Comparisons and a diagnostic key are provided for the species of Helcogramma now known from Taiwan: Helcogramma fuscipectoris, Helcogramma inclinata, Helcogramma striata, Helcogramma trigloides, and the newly recorded, Helcogramma rhinoceros.
Highlights
The genus Helcogramma McCulloch & Waite (1918) contains small to medium sized tripterygiid fishes with rather fusiform bodies
We report a new locality record for H. rhinoceros Hansen (1986) and redescribe Taiwanese specimens of the species known from Taiwan
Within the genus Helcogramma, H. williamsi n. sp. and the H. steinitzi species group share the presence of dense micromelanophores on the membrane between the first two dorsal-fin spines in both males and females
Summary
The genus Helcogramma McCulloch & Waite (1918) contains small to medium sized tripterygiid fishes with rather fusiform bodies. It can be distinguished from other genera of Tripterygiidae by the following combination of features: a single continuous. Fishes of Helcogramma are widely distributed through the Indo-West Pacific and southeastern Atlantic Some Taiwanese specimens identified by Holleman (1982) and Hansen (1986) as H. fuscopinna were determined to represent a distinct species and were described by Williams and McCormick (1990) as H. habena. We report a new locality record for H. rhinoceros Hansen (1986) and redescribe Taiwanese specimens of the species known from Taiwan
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