First Record of the Rockfish Sebastes melanops from the Western North Pacific, with Comments on its Synonymy (Osteichthyes: Scorpaenoidei: Sebastidae)

Abstract

Sebastes melanops Girard, 1856, formerly known from the Aleutian Islands and the southeastern Bering Sea to Baja California, USA, is reported from the western Pacific on the basis of two specimens collected from Iwate Prefecture on the Pacific coast of northern Japan. One of the Japanese specimens is described here in detail and compared with specimens from the eastern North Pacific. Sequence data from the mitochondrial DNA control region of this species are also provided and compared with closely related congeners. Sebastes columbianus (Hubbs and Schultz, 1933) is herein regarded as a junior synonym of S. melanops on the basis of an examination of type specimens. Conversely, another supposed junior synonym, S. simulans (Gill, 1864) may not be conspecific with S. melanops.