The well-known marine ichthyologists John E. Randall and Gerald R. Allen have recently described two new species of wrasse, Halichoeres erdmanni and Halichoeres hilomeni.
The genus Halichoeres is the largest in the family Labridae, and the two new descriptions increase the number of contained species to 80.
Halichoeres hilomeni
The type material of Halichoeres hilomeni (pictured above) was collected at Dibuluan, a small island at the northern end of Palawan in the Philippines, where it was living in a sheltered habitat of mixed coral, algae, sand, and gravel in 1–3m/40in of depth.
The species has also been found at Coron Island in the Calamian Group north of Palawan, and in Borneo.
Its closest relative appears to be H. solorensis from Indonesia and the Philippines. The two wrasses have very similar meristics and some similarities in colour pattern, but also exhibit marked differences in coloration in adults. Juvenile coloration is at present unknown.
The largest specimen of H. hilomeni examined measured 95.6mm/3.75in and the species is named in honour of Dr. Vincent Hilomen of the University of the Philippines, in recognition of his help to the authors in obtaining the type material for the description.
The authors also examined the taxonomic status of a number other Halichoeres regarded as valid by Kuiter (2002), confirming them as synonyms of H. nigrescens.
Halichoeres erdmanni, copyright © J. E. Randall
Halichoeres erdmanni
Halichoeres erdmanni is known to occur in a number of different locations: the northern Gulf of Thailand, Singapore, and West Papua, Indonesia. The type locality is Ogar Island, one of the Sariga Islands, which lie offshore of Berau Bay, West Papua. The coast of these islands is a mix of mangroves, rocky shore, and occasional sandy beaches.
The inshore habitat where the species was collected consists of fringing coral reef with poor underwater visibility (often less than 3m/10ft and the tidal current is sometimes very strong. The species was found at a depth of 8–25m/26-82ft.
The new species appears to be most closely related to H. binotopsis, having the same meristic data (counts of scales, etc) and a similar colour pattern, but the dark spots in H. binotopsis are evenly spaced and form broad bars while those in H. erdmanni form clumps. The largest specimen examined had a standard length of 72.2mm (just under 3in).
The authors have named the species in honour of their colleague Mark V. Erdmann, who collected the holotype and some of the other type material.
For further information see: Randall, J. E. & G. R. Allen (2010) Two New Labrid Fishes of the Genus Halichoeres from the East Indies. The Raffles Bulletin Of Zoology 58 (2): 281–289 (this paper can be downloaded free of charge as a .PDF file at www.worldfish.de.); Kuiter, R. H. (2002) Fairy & Rainbow Wrasses and their Relatives. TMC Publishing, Chorleywood, UK.