Morphological comparisons of Sphyraena qenie with S. putnamae, with a revised key to Indo-Pacific species of Sphyraena lacking gill rakers (Sphyraenidae)

Sphyraena qenie Klunzinger 1870 and Sphyraena putnamae Jordan and Seale 1905 (Sphyraenidae) are similar to each other in sharing elongated last rays of the second dorsal and anal fins, an entirely blackish caudal fin, and lacking spines on the first gill-arch platelets. Sphyraena qenie, previously considered distinguishable from S. putnamae in having a pair of small lobes on the caudal-fin central margin (vs. lobes absent in S. putnamae) and 18–22 dark lateral bands on the body (vs. about 15 bands), is further characterized by several newly recognized diagnostic features, including number of scale rows between the eye and preopercular margin, and several morphometrics, viz., upper-jaw, pre-dorsal fin, pre-pelvic fin, anterior second dorsal- and anal-fin ray, and caudal-peduncle lengths. A key to the Indo-Pacific species of Sphyraena lacking gill rakers is provided, and Japanese records of S. qenie reviewed, including a new specimen from Satsuma Peninsula, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, which represents the northernmost record for the species and first record from the Japanese mainland.