New wrasse described off the coast of Brazil
A new species of wrasse living off the Brazilian coast has been described by Osmar Luiz, Jr, Carlos Ferreira and Luiz Rocha. The new species has been named Halichoeres sazimai after Brazilian ichthyologist Ivan Sazima from Universidade Estadual de Campinas in São Paolo.
Halichoeres sazimai inhabit the Western South Atlantic off the southern and south-eastern coasts of Brazil where researchers regularly saw it foraging solitary on sand bottoms immediately adjacent to the lower end of rocky reefs. Occasionally, harems consisting of 5-10 specimens were also spotted. The fish was sometimes observed over the reefs as well, but usually stayed at a dept of at least 20 metres. According to the researchers, this may have to do with a preference for water colder than 18° C.
Halichoeres sazimai separates itself from its close relatives by having a white body adorned with a zigzag patterned midline stripe which is yellow or golden in females and juveniles and black and brownish in terminal males.
Sorry i have not found a pic of this species.
The paper has been published in the journal Zootaxa.
“OJ, Jr, Luiz, CEL Ferreira and LA Rocha (2009) Halichoeres sazimai, a new species of wrasse (Perciformes: Labridae) from the Western South Atlantic. Zootaxa 2092, pp. 37–46.”
