IWAMOTO & WIRTZ: SYNOPSIS OF EASTERN ATLANTIC SERRANUS 
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Figure 16. Serranus sp. (possibly inexpectatus) living specimen collected in Sierra Leone. Photograph by Peter Wirtz. 
Figure 17. Serranus sp. (possibly inexpectatus ) preserved specimen collected in Sierra Leone. Photograph by Peter 
Wirtz. 
along distal margin. Pelvic fins dark dusky except along leading ray, which is pale. Pectoral fin 
pale. Caudal fin dusky on ventral half, pale dorsally. Coloration in life from a photograph (Fig. 15) 
provided by Pascal Pepe Sjamajee Rommelaere of a specimen from Senegal shows the overall dark 
reddish to orange basic banding pattern (as described above for preserved specimens), but with the 
broad second band below the spinous dorsal fin splitting in two below the lateral line, and the band 
at caudal-fin base narrow and separated by a narrow pale band from the caudal rays. The black spot 
on the first three dorsal spines is quite prominent, as are the dusky pelvic and anal fins. Narrow 
reddish to orange streaks run along the dorsal and caudal fins and possibly the anal fin, although 
those on the anal are obscured by the overall dark-dusky fin coloration. Figures 16 and 17 show 
what are probably the new species taken off Sierra Leone. The coloration of fish from this country 
was quite different from those from Senegal. Rather than the overall pinkish to red of the Senegal 
specimens (Fig. 15), the Sierra Leone fish (Figs. 16 and 17) had a whitish to yellowish ground and 
dark reddish-brown bands and prominent red-orange blotches on top of head. A black mid-lateral 
stripe, faint anteriorly but dark posteriorly, extends from opercle to base of caudal fin, and merges 
with the black ventral surfaces of the lower caudal lobe. 
Size: To at least 92 mm TL. 
Habitat and distribution.— Rocky bottoms in 25-36 m. So far known only from Senegal, 
Gabon, and Angola (and possibly Sierra Leone). 
Etymology.— From the Latin inexpectatus, meaning unexpected, surprising; in reference to 
