Taxonomic status of seven nominal species of the anchovy genus Stolephorus described by Delsman (1931), Hardenberg (1933), and Dutt and Babu Rao (1959), with redescriptions of Stolephorus tri (Bleeker 1852) and Stolephorus waitei Jordan and Seale 1926 (Clupeiformes: Engraulidae)

Abstract

Examination of the original descriptions and available type specimens of Stolephorus insularis Delsman 1931 and subsequently proposed subspecies (Stolephorus insularis insularis Delsman 1931, Stolephorus insularis bataviensis Hardenberg 1933, Stolephorus insularis baweanensis Hardenberg 1933, and Stolephorus insularis oceanicus Hardenberg 1933), and Stolephorus baganensis baganensis Delsman 1931, Stolephorus baganensis megalops Delsman 1931, Anchoviella baganensis bengalensis Dutt and Babu Rao 1959, and Stolephorus waitei Jordan and Seale 1926, in addition to a large number of non-type specimens representing an extensive geographic range, confirmed the validity of S. baganensis, S. bataviensis, S. baweanensis, S. bengalensis, S. oceanicus, and S. waitei. Stolephorus i. insularis and S. b. megalops were recognized as junior synonyms of Stolephorus tri (Bleeker 1852). All of the valid species, including S. tri, are rediagnosed together with detailed color descriptions, with neotype designations for S. baganensis, S. bataviensis, S. baweanensis, S. bengalensis, S. oceanicus, S. i. insularis, and S. b. megalops and clarification of their taxonomic history. To complement our morphological observations, we built a large phylogenetic tree for 93 specimens of Stolephorus collected from the South China Sea belonging to ten species using two mitochondrial markers, cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I. Our phylogenetic results support the genetic distinctiveness of each of the ten species examined and offer the first hypothesis on their relationships.