Abstract
A new species of the butterflyfish genus Prognathodes is described from specimens collected at a depth of 55–61 m off Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This species has been observed by mixed-gas divers and from submersibles at depths ranging from 45–187 m throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, with shallower sightings in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and deeper in the Main Hawaiian Islands. It is similar to Prognathodes guezei (Maugé and Bauchot 1976) from the western Indian Ocean, and at least one other undescribed species of Prognathodes from Palau, differing from these species in the number of soft dorsal-fin rays, size of head, and body depth. There are also differences in the life color, and a substantial genetic difference from the Palauan species (d » .08 in mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I).
Highlights
The genus Prognathodes Gill, 1862 currently includes eleven valid species: seven from the Atlantic, two from the tropical eastern Pacific, and two from the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Pyle and Chave (1994) first reported the presence of a species of this genus in the Hawaiian Islands at depths of 106–187 m, based on video and observations from research submersibles operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL)
Prognathodes basabei is an example of the conspicuous new fish species that have been discovered on deep coral reefs over the past two decades, mostly involving the use of modern mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreather diving technology (Pyle 1996, 2000)
There has been increased attention focused on mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs), coral-reef habitat at depths of approximately 30–150 m in tropical regions worldwide (Hinderstein et al 2010, Baker et al 2016)
Summary
Pyle and Chave (1994) first reported the presence of a species of this genus in the Hawaiian Islands at depths of 106–187 m, based on video and observations from research submersibles operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL). They noted its similarity to P. guezei (Mauge and Bauchot 1976), a species known only from the two type specimens collected at a depth of 80 m off Réunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. We describe the Hawaiian population as the new species, Prognathodes basabei
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