A note on the cinnabar goatfish, Parupeneus heptacanthus (Lacepède, 1802) from northern parts of the Persian Gulf and the Makran Sea (Teleostei: Mullidae)

Abstract

The cinnabar goatfish, Parupeneus heptacanthus (Lacepède, 1802), is a species of mullid fish distributed in the Red Sea, Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Madagascar and Mascarenes east to Marshall Islands, Samoa and Tonga, north to southern Japan, south to Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia. It has been mainly reported from the southern part of the Persian Gulf and Makran Sea. Here, the morphological features especially live color pattern of P. heptacanthus from the northern area of Persian Gulf and Makran Sea are described and discussed. It is the first record of life color pattern of this species from the northern Persian Gulf.