Siganus woodlandi, new species of rabbittish (Siganidae) from New Caledonia

摘要

The rabbitfish Siganus woodlandi, first identified as Siganus sp. by Fourmanoir and Laboute (1976), is described as a new species from three specimens, 204-252 mm standard length, from New Caledonia. It has also been misidentified as S. argenteus because of its similarity in colour pattern and caudal-fin shape to this species. It differs principally from argenteus in having a deeper body (depth 2.35-2.4 in SL, compared to 2.5-2.95 for argenteus), steeper and more concave dorsal head profile, 6-7 instead of 4-6 upper-limb gill rakers, and more suborbital scales. A rabbitfish recently illustrated in Japanese publications as Siganus sp. seems to be either S. woodlandi or a very closely related species.