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A total of 1217 fish species were analysed and the percentage of species in each of a number of zoogeographic patterns was calculated. An additional two categories, Atlanto-Mediterranean (anti-Less...

The samarid flatfish Plagiopsetta biocellata sp. nov. is described from Egypt, Gulf of Aqaba, southern Red Sea, based on a specimen collected in the coral-reef lagoon at a depth of 0-1 metres. The new species is characterised within the genus Plagiopsetta by 61 dorsal-fin rays, anal-fin rays 53, pectoral-fin rays on ocular side 8, caudal-fin rays 14; lateral-line scales on ocular side 74; lateral line on blind side incomplete, with 14 scales; gill rakers on ocular side 2 + 4; abdominal vertebrae 11; caudal vertebrae 31; a pair of large ocelli present on posterior body on ocular side; pectoral fin pale, with a distal black blotch. A key to the species of the genus Plagiopsetta is presented.

The cutthroat eel Dysomma alticorpus n. sp. is described based on a single specimen collected in a trammel net at a depth of 350m off Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. The new species belongs to the Dysomma anguillare species complex, which comprises species possessing a well-developed pectoral fin, intermaxillary teeth, a uniserial row of 7-15 large compound teeth in the lower jaw (which may be followed by a few smaller teeth), and an anteriorly situated anus with the trunk shorter than the head length. It is characterised by a combination of the following characters: origin of the dorsal fin well anterior to the base of the pectoral fin, predorsal length 13.8% TL; preanal length 22.8% TL; three compound teeth on the vomer; head pores: IO 4, SO 3; M 6; POP 0; AD 1, F 0, ST 0; lateral-line pores: predorsal 4, prepectoral 8, preanal 14, total 57-58, the last at the posterior two-thirds of the total length; MVF 7-16-115; total vertebrae 115. Dysomma alticorpus n. sp. is compared with other species of the genus. A revised key to the species of the genera Dysomma and Dysommina is provided.

The aploactinid fish Ptarmus gallus is redescribed and recorded from the Gulf of Suez (Egypt) for the first time. The species is apparently endemic to the Red Sea. Identification keys to the genera of aploactinid fishes, and to species of the genus Ptarmus are presented.

This study examines the distribution of the red scorpionfish, Scorpaena scrofa Linnaeus, 1758, in the Red Sea, in order to get a better picture of the distribution and dispersal of this species. The species is recorded for the first time from the Gulf of Aqaba, based on a specimen collected off Eilat, Israel at a depth of 400 m. This finding also confirms the occurrence of the species in the Red Sea and links up with a recent record from Saya de Malha Bank, western Indian Ocean.

The Meseda waspfish Neocentropogon mesedai is recorded for the first time from the Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea, based on a specimen collected near Eilat, Israel at 300-350 m depth. The species is very rare in collections, otherwise known only from the type series collected in the central Red Sea off Saudi Arabia.

The flashlight fishes of the genus Photoblepharon (Family: Anomalopidae) are herein reviewed, in order to clarify their taxonomy. The genus includes two species Photoblepharon palpebratum (Boddaert, 1781) from the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean and Photoblepharon steinitzi Abe et Haneda, 1973 from the Red Sea, Oman, and western Indian Ocean. The study was initiated because the holotype of P. steinitzi was lost. Neotypes for these two species are designated due to the loss of the type specimens of both species and problems with the identity of the two species. A key for these species is provided. Several biological, ecological and other uses of the light organ are given for P. steinitzi from the Gulf of Aqaba. Observations in nature and experiments in the aquarium are described.

The toothy goby, Pleurosicya mossambica Smith, 1959, is recorded for the first time from Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba. The status of Pleurosicya sinaia Goren, 1984 is discussed; that nominal species is treated as a junior synonym of P. mossambica.

Evoxymetopon moricheni n. sp. is described from the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, on the basis of a single specimen. It is characterised within the genus by a convex upper head profile; the posterior confluence of the frontal ridges slightly elevated at the nape, resulting in the presence of a slight sagittal crest; eye 5.2 times in head length; the lower hind margin of opercle slightly pointed in its lower half; the pelvic fins reduced to a scale-like structure with two soft rays on the posterior process of the basipterygium, its origin below the eighth dorsal-fin element; the first anal spine single, oval, scale like, and originating a short distance behind the vent (opposite the 34th dorsal-fin soft ray), anterior anal-fin soft rays minute and embedded, barely penetrating the skin and not visible externally, while the posterior fin supporting the rays enlarged and visible externally; approximately 17 anal-fin rays externally visible; approximately 83 dorsal-fin elements, with first spine not elongate, shorter than second; 12 pectoral-fin rays (ii + 6 + iv), with shorter anterior (fourth ray shortest) and longer posterior rays extending above the lateral line; 10 upper and 13 lower gill rakers of the first gill arch; head and body silver white, with a blackish margin anteriorly on snout and head, continuing along the anterior half of the dorsal-fin base. The new finding represents a new record of the genus from the Red Sea.

A total of six Red Sea inshore fish species with wide Indo-Pacific distribution, including Lessepsian migrants that reached the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, were studied and compared genetically to conspecific populations from Japan and the Seychelles. Examination of the cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) gene of Apogon cyanosoma, Sargocentron rubrum, Upeneus moluccensis, Spratelloide sdelicatulus, Gerres oyena and Terapon jarbua from Japan, the Red Sea, the Seychelles and the Mediterranean revealed that in five out of six fish species, a difference greater than 4% was found. These results indicate the importance of DNA genetic analysis in revealing possible cryptic species and supplementing classic taxonomic studies, as well as contributing to a reappraisal of the zoogeography and evolution of Indo-Pacific ichthyofauna and enhancing our understanding of fish biodiversity.

The Golden anchovy Stolephorus insularis was recorded for the first time in the Mediterranean near Tel-Aviv, Israel on 7 August 2009. This northern Indian Ocean species evidently reached the Mediterranean by crossing the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. Since then, several specimens were collected over a period of time which indicates that this species has established a viable population in the Levant.

The Red Sea record of the Ambon scorpionfishPteroidichthys amboinensisis confirmed based on two specimens collected at Eilat, Israel in 1966 and in 1997. The species is widespread but very rare, known from scattered localities in the Indo-West Pacific, otherwise occurring from India and Indonesia east to Marquesas Islands.

A single specimen of a sub-adult specimen of the Atlantic species, Acanthurus coeruleus Bloch et Schneider, 1801, was collected in the Mediterranean coast of Israel. This collection was the first confirmed record of this species in the Mediterranean since hitherto it was known from this region only by a single underwater photograph from Cyprus. We postulate that this species may be considered as having established a population in this region.

The slender ponyfish Equulites elongatus was recorded for the first time in the Mediterranean near Tel-Aviv, Israel on 27 May 2011. This Indo-Pacific species evidently reached the Mediterranean by crossing the Suez Canal.