FIRST TAIWANESE RECORDS OF THE LONG-BARBEL GOATFISH, PARUPENEUS MACRONEMUS (ACTINOPTERYGII: PERCIFORMES: MULLIDAE), WITH THE NORTHERNMOST RECORD IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN

In total, 31 species of genus Parupeneus are recognized, and 13 of these have been recorded from Taiwanese waters. Although the long-barbel goatfish, Parupeneus macronemus (Lacepede, 1801) has been previously known from western Pacific Ocean north to Philippines without voucher specimens, no records were reported from Taiwan. The main objective of this paper is to document the presence of P macronemus in the waters of Taiwan. Two specimens (173.1 and 177.1 mm standard length) of long-barbel goatfish were collected from southern Taiwan on 2017. The morphology and fresh coloration of the collected specimens are herein described. The majority of the morphological characters agree well with previous descriptions of P. macronemus: e.g., total number of gill rakers 35-36; barbel length 83.1%-86.8% in head length; black stripe from eye along lateral line to anterior part of caudal peduncle; a roundish black blotch larger than eye on middle side of caudal peduncle; basal half of second dorsal fin black. Therefore the goatfish specimens from southern Taiwan are identified as Parupeneus macronemus. The presently described specimens represent the first record for Taiwan, as well as the northernmost record of this species in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the presently described specimens constitute the first reliable record of the species in the north-western Pacific Ocean.