Description

SINGLE PAPER

Volume 4, Issue 4 – August 2001

Luiz A. Rocha and Ricardo S. Rosa: Halichoeres brasiliensis (Bloch, 1791), a valid wrasse species (Teleostei: Labridae) from Brazil, with notes on the Caribbean species Halichoeres radiatus (Linnaeus, 1758), pp. 161-166

Abstract

Halichoeres brasiliensis (Bloch, 1791), previously considered to be a junior synonym of H. radiatus (Linnaeus, 1758), is a valid species. It differs from H. radiatus by having 19-21 instead of 21-23 gill rakers, lacking four whitish blotches on the dorsum, and having a blue instead of a yellow margin on the caudal fin. The two species have allopatric distributions: H. brasiliensis is found on the Brazilian continental shelf and at Trindade Island, whereas the range of H. radiatus comprises the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Bermuda, and the Brazilian oceanic islands of Fernando de Noronha, Atol das Rocas, and St. Paul’s Rocks.