Chelidoperca stella, a new species of perchlet (Perciformes: Serranidae) from the Andaman Sea, eastern Indian Ocean

Abstract

A new species of serranid fish, Chelidoperca stella, is described on the basis of five specimens from the Andaman Sea in the eastern Indian Ocean. The species can be readily distinguished from all valid congeners by having fewer pored lateralline scales (34 or 35 vs. 40-45 in the latter) and the pelvic fin white with several small yellow spots (vs. spots absent). The species is also characterized by having relatively high counts of small serrae on the posterior margins of the preopercle (33-43 serrae), interopercle (7-10) and subopercle (18-28), despite the small body size (51.7-61.8 mm SL). Although Chelidoperca stella resembles C. margaritifera in having 2.5 scale rows between lateral line and the sixth dorsal-fin spine base, a relatively wider interorbital region, and the interorbital scales not reaching a vertical through the orbit anterior margin, but differs by having the above-mentioned diagnostic characters plus a slightly shorter longest anal-fin soft ray [17.4-18.7 (mean 18.1) % SL vs. 22.6-26.4 (24.4) % SL in C. margaritifera].