Cirripectes variolosus (Valenciennes, 1836)

(DAEÑṞDz)

(Fig. 1c & Fig. 2c)

Salarias variolosus Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1836: 317 (Guam, Mariana Islands).

Salarias sebae Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1836: 323.

Ophioblennius clarki Reid, 1943: 380.

Salarias nigripes Seale, 1901: 127.

Cirripectes variolosus Masuda et al. 1984: 299; Williams 1988: 70; Suzuki et al. 1999: 4; Hoban & Williams 2020: 10.

Material examined. NTOUP-2025-0523-17, 42.9 mm SL, northern side of Taiping Island, Cijin District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (10°22’57.1”N, 114°22’4.7”E), 10–13m depth, 23 May 2025, clove oil combined with hand net, coll. by Yan-Cheng Yang & Wei-Hong Xu.

Description. Dorsal-fin rays XI, 14; anal-fin rays II, 14; pectoral-fin rays 16; pelvic-fin rays I, 4; segment caudal-fin rays 6 + 5 (branched 4 + 4); vertebrae 9+18; nuchal cirri 17 (both side); supraorbital cirri 5 (both side); nasal cirri 4 (5 in right side); lateral line tubes 16 (both side).

Morphometric data are presented in Table 1. The body is slightly elongate, moderately compressed posteriorly, and deepest at the base of the pectoral fin. The snout is slightly elevated, and except for a slight protrusion at the base of the nasal cirri, the dorsal profile from the anterior margin of the eye to the snout is nearly vertical. Posteriorly, the profile rises gently toward the nape, then gradually descends to the caudal peduncle. The ventral profile is slightly convex from the lower jaw tip to the pelvic-fin origin, becomes gently convex again at the abdominal region, and thereafter remains nearly straight and parallel to the body axis toward the anus, rising slightly along the anal-fin base and remaining nearly straight before reaching the caudal peduncle. The anus is located slightly anterior to mid-body.

The head is bluntly rounded and widest at the mid-cheek region. The eye is moderately sized and positioned anterodorsally on the head. The nuchal cirri are arranged in two separated clusters at the middle of the nape. A complex cephalic sensory pore system is present.

The posterior portion of the dorsal-fin rays is separated from the fin base, and the posteriormost membrane does not attach to the caudal peduncle. The anal-fin base extends from a point directly below the 10th dorsal-fin spine to the vertical below the posterior end of the dorsal-fin base, and the posteriormost anal-fin ray is split from its base. The caudal fin is arcuate. The pectoral-fin origin lies below the first to second dorsal-fin spines, with the ventralmost pectoral-fin base aligned below the second dorsal-fin spine; the longest ray reaches the level of the anus, and the posterior margin is rounded. The pelvic-fin origin is positioned anterior to the vertical line of the nuchal cirri and reaches to the base of the third dorsal-fin spine.

The general body coloration is dark brown, with irregular orange blotches near the head region. The head is light brown with several orange stripes, and the iris displays alternating orange-red and white stripes. The first dorsal fin (including the membrane) is orange at both the base and distal margin, with a single white longitudinal stripe medially. The second dorsal fin is light brown with a whitish semi-transparent membrane. The anal fin is grayish and semi-transparent. The pectoral fin (including the membrane) is grayish semi-transparent with a black distal tip. The pelvic fin is white, with the distal tip orange. The caudal fin is overall brown, becoming lighter distally, and the fin membrane is whitish and semi-transparent.

Habitat. The specimen was collected from a rocky intertidal tidepool at a depth of approximately 0.1–0.2 m.