Stolephorus grandis, a new anchovy (Teleostei: Clupeiformes: Engraulidae) from New Guinea and Australia.

Abstract

The new anchovy Stolephorus grandis n. sp., described on the basis of 10 specimens collected from Papua, Indonesia, and Australia, closely resembles Stolephorus mercurius Hata, Lavou Motomura, 2021, Stolephorus multibranchus Wongratana, 1987, and Stolephorus rex Jordan Seale, 1926, all having double pigmented lines on the dorsum from the occiput to the dorsal-fin origin, a long maxilla (posterior tip just reaching or slightly beyond the posterior margin of preopercle), and lacking a predorsal scute. However, the new species clearly differs from the others in having fewer gill rakers (3539 total gill rakers on the first gill arch in S. grandis vs. > 38 in the other species), a greater number of vertebrae (total vertebrae 4243 vs. fewer than 41), longer caudal peduncle (21.923.7% SL vs. 20.8%), and the depressed pelvic fin not reaching posteriorly to vertical through the dorsal fin-origin (vs. reaching beyond level of dorsal-fin origin).