Abstract
Two flathead species of the genus Platycephalus, P. sp. I (Japanese name: Magochi) and P. sp.II (Japanese name: Yoshinogochi), from the western Suonada and the southern Yatsushiro Seas, Japan, were compared morphologically and electrophoretically. Platycephalus sp. II was easily distinguished from P. sp. I by the presence of irregular brown spots on the back and sides. Complete species separations were also observed at the following meristic characters on fish scales: pored scales in lateral line (PSLL), 67-74 in sp. I, 86-99 in sp. II; transverse rows of scales running obliquely backward and downward (TRSB), 89-107 in sp. I, 108-121 in sp. II; and transverse rows of scales running obliquely forward and downward (TRSF), 124-138 in sp. I, 143-157 in sp. II. Relative growth of the following eight body parts to standard length was significantly different between the two species: predorsal length (PDL), preanal length (PAL), body width (BW), caudal peduncle depth (CPD), head length (HL), head width (HW), upper jaw length (UJL), and interorbital width (IOW). These two species did not share alleles at six loci out of 20 loci detected from isozymes and general proteins and gave a genetic distance of 0.380-0.405, a typical value of congeneric species.
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