Review of the waspfish genus Neocentropogon (Tetrarogidae), with a key to genera in the family

A taxonomic review of the waspfish genus Neocentropogon Matsubara 1943 (Tetrarogidae), diagnosed by the following combination of characters: body sparsely covered with small embedded cycloid scales, palatine teeth present, XIII–XVI dorsal-fin spines, the first dorsal fin originating above the orbit, five pelvic-fin soft rays, and membrane of lower four pectoral-fin rays deeply incised, resulted in the recognition of six species: Neocentropogon aeglefinus (Weber 1913), Neocentropogon affinis (Lloyd 1909a), Neocentropogon japonicus Matsubara 1943, Neocentropogon mesedai Klausewitz 1985, Neocentropogon profundus (Smith 1958), and Neocentropogon trimaculatus Chan 1966. Neocentropogon trimaculatus (anti-tropically distributed in East Asia and Australia) can be distinguished from its congeners by the presence of three dark blotches on the body (vs. absent or a single blotch); N. affinis (eastern Indian Ocean) and N. aeglefinus (Philippines to Australia) differ from other congeners in having a black blotch behind the opercle (vs. blotch absent), with the former distinguishable from the latter by dorsal rows of dark spots on the body, and pectoral and caudal fins (vs. spots absent), and 79–96 scale rows in the longitudinal series (vs. 94–137); N. mesedai (Red Sea) differs from N. profundus (southwestern Indian Ocean) and N. japonicus (northwestern Pacific Ocean) in having the lowermost four pectoral-fin rays elongated and XIII (vs. XIV–XVI) dorsal-fin spines, the latter species being separated by the symphyseal knob condition (unremarkable, N. profundus vs. pronounced, N. japonicus), dark dorsal spots on the body (vs. absent), and 5 anal-fin soft rays (vs. 6 or 7). Keys to the genera of Tetrarogidae and species of Neocentropogon are given, including taxonomic status of Vespicula Jordan and Richardson 1910 and Pseudovespicula Mandrytsa 2001.