COLLETTE ET AL: SCOMBEROMOROUS BRASILIENSIS NEW SPECIES 



1971-73 by Costa and Almeida ( 1974). For 32,514 

 specimens of S. brasiliensis measured from 1962 

 through 1973, the size range was 267-1,250 mm 

 FL. Of 16,170 specimens measured between 1962 

 and 1968, 9 were longer than 950 mm FL: 6 (951- 

 1,000); 1 (1,001-1,050); 1 (1,051-1,100); and 1 

 (1,201-1,250). More than 60% each year from 1962 

 to 1968 were in the size range 401-650 mm FL. 

 Scomberomorus maculatus is a much smaller 

 species; the largest of 1,279 specimens examined 

 by Klima ( 1959) from southeastern Florida was 

 700 mm FL and most were between 300 and 500 

 mm. The length-weight relationship was deter- 

 mined by Nomura and Costa ( 1968) for Brazilian 

 S. brasiliensis: for males log W = -2.2051 

 + 2.973 log L, and for females log W = -2.154 

 + 3.035 log L. For 1971-73, the age composition of 

 the catch was II to X, concentrated at III to VI, and 

 mostly III or IV (Costa and Almeida 1974). 



Color pattern, possession of nasal denticles, lat- 

 eral line curvature, and other characters suggest 

 that S. brasiliensis, S. sierra, S. maculatus, and S. 

 tritor are closely related. Scomberomorus regalis 

 may also belong to this group of species and S. 

 concolor Lockington of the eastern tropical Pacific 

 is even more distantly related. Scomberomorus 

 cavalla belongs to another species group, contain- 

 ing S. commerson (Lacepede). The center of origin 

 of Scomberomorus appears to be in the Indo-West 

 Pacific as is the case with many other groups of 

 fishes. It appears likely that an ancestor of S. tritor 

 crossed the Atlantic and populated the tropical 

 western Atlantic and eastern Pacific. When the 

 Panamanian isthmus emerged, this population 

 was divided into two, which subsequently dif- 

 ferentiated into S. sierra (eastern Pacific) and S. 

 brasiliensis. Scomberomorus maculatus is pre- 

 sumably derived from the S. sierra-brasiliensis 

 stock and developed a higher number of vertebrae 

 along with its movements into more temperate 

 waters along the U.S. east coast. 



COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED 



Scomberomorus maculatus. East coast of 

 United States: 24 specimens (163-712 mm FL) 

 from 13 collections from Cape Cod, Mass.; New 

 York; Cape Hatteras, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; and 

 Brunswick, Ga., at MCZ, NHMV, USNM, ZMH, 

 and ZMK. Gulf of Mexico: 29 specimens (176-439 

 mm FL) from 16 collections from Captiva Key and 

 St. Andrew Bay, Fla; Mobile, Ala.; Biloxi, Miss.; 

 Atchafalaya Bay, La.; Aransas Bay, Tex.; Vera 



Cruz, Mexico; and Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico at 

 BMNH, MCZ, NHMV, USNM, and ZMK. 



Scomberomorus sierra . SIO 62-338 ( 1 , 594 ) , La 

 Jolla, Calif. Mexico: 42 specimens (183-685 mm 

 FL) from 22 collections from Baja California, 

 Guaymas, Mazatlan, and Sonora at BMNH, CAS, 

 LACM, MCZ, NHMV, SIO, and USNM including 

 the lectotype SU 1720 (332 mm) from Mazat- 

 lan. Costa Rica: 6 specimens (237-515 mm FL) 

 from 4 collections from Golfo Dulce and Golfo 

 Nicoya at LACM. Panama: 15 specimens (226- 

 605 mm FL) from 8 collections at FMNH, MCZ, 

 NHMV, SU, USNM, and ZMH. Colombia: 8 

 specimens (202-260 mm FL) from Buenaventura 

 at USNM. Peru: 4 specimens ( 135-460 mm FL) 

 from 3 collections at LACM and NHMV. 

 Galapagos: 4 specimens (422-621 mm FL) from 3 

 collections at ANSP, CAS, and NMC. 



Scomberomorus tritor. Mediterranean: 2 

 specimens (365-475 mm FL) from Nice at NHMV 

 and Florence. Gulf of Guinea: 36 specimens (69- 

 600 mm FL) from 25 collections from the Canary 

 Islands, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote 

 d'lvoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola at BMNH, 

 CAS, MCZ, MNHN, NHMV, USNM, and ZMA 

 including the holotype MNHN A. 6871 from Goree, 

 Dakar. 



Scomberomorus regalis. Caribbean: 40 speci- 

 mens (77-525 mm FL) from 27 collections from 

 Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto 

 Rico, Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles, and Bar- 

 bados at BMNH, MCZ, NHMV, ROM, USNM, 

 ZMA, ZMH, and ZMK. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Material was examined through the courtesy of 

 M.L. Bauchot (MNHN), J. E. and E. B. Bohlke 

 (ANSP), M. Boeseman (RMNH), F. Cervigon M. 

 (UDONECI), A. R. Emery (ROM), W. N. Esch- 

 meyer (CAS), C. Gilbert (UF), K. Hartel (MCZ), R. 

 K. Johnson (FMNH), P. Kahsbauer (NHMV), R. 

 Lavenberg (LACM), K. F. Liem (MCZ), D. McAl- 

 lister (NMC), N. A. Menezes (MZUSP), J. Nielsen 

 (ZMK), H. Nijssen (ZMA), C. R. Robins (UMML), 

 R. Rosenblatt (SIO), P. Sonoda (CAS), P. J. P. 

 Whitehead (BMNH), and H. Wilkins (ZMH). Wil- 

 liam J. Richards (Southeast Fisheries Center, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Miami, 

 Fla.) has kindly made a series of vertebral counts 

 of Atlantic species of Scomberomorus available to 

 us. George Clipper X-rayed most of the material 

 and read the radiographs. The figures were com- 



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