Description of a new species of butterflyfish, Roa australis, from northwestern Australia (Pisces: Perciformes: Chaetodontidae)

Abstract

A new species of butterflyfish (genus Roa) is described from the North-West Shelf of Western Australia and the Arafura Sea. Roa australis n.sp., the only known species of the Roa modesta-complex in the southern hemisphere, is most similar to Roa excelsa from the Hawaiian Islands, differing from it most noticeably in having narrower and fainter brown bars, white instead of brown anterior dorsal spines, and subequal 3rd and 4th dorsal spines rather than a distinctly longer 3rd spine. KUITER, RUDIE H., 2004. Description of a new species of butterflyfish, Roa australis, from northwestern Australia (Pisces: Perciformes: Chaetodontidae). Records of the Australian Museum 56(2): 167–171.