Identification of Species in Genus Platycephalus from Seas of China

• DOI: 10.1007/s11802-020-4158-1
• Publication Date: 2020-01-24T14:04:25Z
• Authors: Zhi Chen; Na Song; Jianwei Zou; Yan Qin; Lai Ma; Tianxiang Gao
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; 14. Life underwater

Platycephalus in Chinese sea area has a high commercial value. However, there were mis-identifications in previous records. In this study, we fully distinguished and diagnosed all five species, Platycephalus indicus, P. cultellatus, Platycephalus sp., Platycephalus sp. 1 and Platycephalus sp. 2. The results revealed that P. cultellatus was overlooked by previous ichthyologists. Platycephalus sp. 1 was misidentified as P. indicus in reality, and Platycephalus sp. 2 only existed in the seas of Japan. Furthermore, morphological, especially phylogenetic analysis indicated that Platycephalus sp. from South China Sea differs from all former known species, which might be a new species. We identified all Platycephalus species in China seas for the first time, which will contribute to local species identification, biodiversity conservation and sustainable exploitation of Platycephalus species.