First record of Pampus minor (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Stromateidae) from the coastal waters of Wenzhou, China

Abstract

Pampus fishes (Perciformes: Stromateidae) are important commercial species and include six valid species in China. The southern lesser pomfret (Pampus minor Liu and Li, 1998) is a species of Pampus for which knowledge is incomplete. This report confirms the occurrence of P. minor in the coastal waters of Wenzhou, China, by analyzing five specimens of P. minor obtained in Wenzhou in March 2019. Morphometric measurements and meristic counts were performed. The diagnostic morphological features of these species were consistent with those of the neotype specimen of P. minor and sufficient for separating the examined specimens from other Pampus species. This study was based on the Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 1 (CO1) gene, which was sequenced for the purpose of identification. The genetic distances between P. minor and other Pampus species ranged from 13.4% to 15.5%, and the mean genetic distance within the P. minor group was 0.2%. Given that P. minor has not been reported in this region, our findings represent the first record from the coastal waters of Wenzhou and extend the distribution range of this species to the central and northern East China Sea. The reason for the observed northward migration of some P. minor individuals from their northernmost recorded habitat (Taiwan Strait) might be global warming. The collection of additional specimens is needed to further study the geographic limits of P. minor and its presumed northern expansion.