Review of the tonguesoles of the Red Sea, with description of a new species (Teleostei: Cynoglossidae)

Abstract

The cynoglossid fishes of the Red Sea are reviewed. We distinguish 10 valid species in two genera: Cynoglossus acutirostris Norman 1939 from the Gulf of Aden, southern and central Red Sea; C. cleopatridis Chabanaud 1949 from the Gulf of Suez; C. crepida Fricke, Golani & Appelbaum-Golani 2017 from the Gulf of Aqaba; C. dollfusi (Chabanaud 1931) from the Gulf of Suez; C. glotta n. sp. from Eritrea, southern Red Sea; C. lachneri Menon 1977 from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean; C. pottii Steindachner 1902 from the Gulf of Suez and southern Red Sea; C. quadrilineatus (Bleeker 1861) from the Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific; C. sinusarabici (Chabanaud 1931) from the Red Sea [the only Lessepsian migrant in the eastern Mediterranean of this family]; Paraplagusia bilineata (Bloch 1787) from the Red Sea and the Indo-West Pacific. All species are diagnosed, the new taxa are described in detail. A lectotype for Cynoglossus sinusarabici (Chabanaud 1931) is selected and described. Keys to the genera of Cynoglossidae, and to the species in the Red Sea, are provided.