A synopsis of the Eastern and Central Atlantic Combers of the Genus Serranus (Teleostei: Scorpaeniformes: Serranidae)

Combers comprise a group of mostly small, shallow-water, tropical to subtropical reef fishes of the genus Serranus, subfamily Serraninae. Only a few of the 32 currently known species attain a size exceeding 25 cm TL and few live at depths exceeding 100 m. Three-quarters of the species are found in the Atlantic, with many fewer in the eastern Pacific (6 spp.) and western Indian Ocean (2 spp.). The highest diversity (14 spp.) is in the western Atlantic, with the eastern Atlantic second (10 spp.). No species is found in more than one of these four areas. This synopsis provides a supplement to the treatment of the group by Heemstra and Anderson (2016) in FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purpose. We include three additional species: S. pulcher Wirtz and Iwamoto, 2016, and two new species herein described: S. drewesi Iwamoto, and S. inexpectatus Wirtz and Iwamoto. Serranus drewesi, known only from the holotype taken by spear in São Tomé, appears most similar to S. hepatus but is distinguishable by it cycloid scales, naked interorbital space, pigmentation pattern on the fins and body, gill-raker count of the first arch, and several other characteristics. The type specimens for Serranus inexpectatus are from Angola and Gabon, but we suspect that it occurs elsewhere off West Africa. The type specimen from Gabon is that reported by Poll (1954) as Paracentropristis heterurus; the excellent illustration in Poll's work has been used erroneously by others as representative of S. heterurus. DNA evidence suggests that S. inexpectatus is sister to a clade that includes S. heterurus and S. pulcher. The three are closely similar but each can be distinguished by a combination of pigmentation pattern and meristic and morphometric characteristics. Descriptions, photographs, and a key to the species are provided for the eastern Atlantic species