First record of the jawfish Stalix toyoshio (Perciformes: Opistognathidae) from the South Sea Korea

Abstract

A single juvenile of the jawfish Stalix toyoshio (24.0 mm standard length) was collected from the South Sea of Korea at a depth of 135 m during box-corer sampling. The specimen was characterized by the absence of stripes on both the body and vertical fins, well-developed cephalic pore systems, yellowish body and fins, six transversely-forked dorsal fin spines, and five mandibular pores. Here, we describe the specimen, which represents the first record of S. toyoshio from Korea and the second record from the northwestern Pacific.