Parapristipoma bethensis, Schwarzhans, 2023

Parapristipoma bethensis n. sp.

Figure 23a–c View Fig

Holotype SMF PO 101.285 ( Fig. 23a View Fig ), Dar bel Hamri, coquina at river level of Oued Beth, Zanclean.

Paratype 3 specimens SMF PO 101.286 , same data as holotype .

Etymology Named after the Oued Beth along which the outcrops occur from which the otoliths were obtained.

Diagnosis OL:OH = 1.5–1.6. Dorsal rim irregularly undulating, highest anteriorly; ventral rim regularly curved. Cauda distinctly inclined at angle of 50–65°.

Description Relatively large and elongate otoliths with overall oval shape reaching 9.5 mm in length (holotype). OH:OT = 3.0. Dorsal rim gently curved and irregularly undulating, highest anteriorly, with rounded postdorsal region. Ventral rim relatively shallow, gently and regularly curved. Rostrum short, blunt to broadly rounded; no or very weak excisura or antirostrum. Posterior tip broadly rounded, slightly inferior.

Inner face distinctly convex, with slightly supramedian positioned, moderately deepened sulcus. Ostium short, its ventral rim box-shaped, the dorsal rim short and upward directed. Cauda long, narrow, reaching close to posterior tip of otolith, distinctly curved toward its tip. CaL:OsL = 1.75–1.85; OsH:CaH = 1.8–2.0. Dorsal field narrow, with indistinct, narrow depression; ventral field smooth without ventral furrow. Outer face concave, with small central umbo, smooth.

Discussion Tese otoliths readily differ from the more common haemulid otoliths at Dar bel Hamri ( Pomadasys incisus and P. zemmourensis n. sp.) in the more slender shape, the shallower and more gently curved ventral rim and the more strongly bent caudal tip. Parapristipoma bethensis is characterized through its relatively elongate shape and the gently curved ventral rim as a memebr of the genus Parapristipoma . Tree of four extant species of Parapristipoma are known from the east Atlantic. Otoliths are known from all of them (see Lombarte et al., 2006 and Nolf et al., 2009 for figures). Otoliths of Parapristipoma bethensis are less slender than those of P. humile (Bowdich, 1825) and the inner and outer faces are less strongly curved than in P. humile and P. octolineatum (Valenciennes, 1833) and the ostium is relatively shorter and wider. Parapristipoma bethensis resembles most P. macrops (Pellegrin, 1912) but differs in the rounded posterior rim (vs. tapering) and the broadly undulating anterior dorsal rim (vs. finely crenulated; see Lombarte et a., 2006 for figures of otoliths of P. macrops ).