Triso, a new generic name for the serranid fish previously known as Trisotropis dermopterus, with comments on its relationships

Abstract

The generic nameTriso is proposed for the epinephelin fish recent authors have identified asTrisotropis dermopterus (Temminck et Schlegel).Trisotropis Gill is a junior synonym ofMycteroperca Gill.Triso is distinctive in its short head, broad interorbital, foreshortened neurocranium, anteriorly inclined parasphenoid, high and laterally oriented frontoparietal crests, high dorsal fin-ray counts, and pouch-like esophageal swellings.Altiserranus woorei Whitley from New South Wales is placed in the synonymy ofT. dermopterus. Altiserranus Whitley, type speciesEpinephelus multinotatus (Peters), is synonymized withEpinephelus Bloch.T. dermopterus occurs in the Northern Hemisphere off Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China, and in the Southern Hemisphere off eastern and western Australia; thus it is antitropical in distribution. Available evidence indicates thatTriso may be most closely related to the New World genusParanthias Guichenot.