Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae: Scarini) of the Socotra Archipelago: Diversity and distributional biogeography, including a range extension of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995 Author Zajonz, Uwe Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum of Nature (SMF), Marine Zoology-Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Author Bogorodsky, Sergey V. Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum of Nature (SMF), Marine Zoology-Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. & Station of Naturalists, Omsk, Russia. Author Saeed, Fouad K. N. Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum of Nature (SMF), Marine Zoology-Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. & Environmental Protection Authority, Socotra Branch, Hadibo, Yemen. Author Aideed, Moteah S. Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum of Nature (SMF), Marine Zoology-Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. & Maritime Affairs Authority, Mukalla, Yemen. Author Lavergne, Edouard text Zootaxa 2023 2023-12-20 5389 3 301 330 https://mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5389.3.1/52519 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5389.3.1 1175-5326 10410051 3E7237B4-85C5-4581-B469-ED1C00154413 Scarus ferrugineus Forsskål, 1775 Scarus ferrugineus Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1775: 29 ; neotype : BPBM 18158 ; type locality: Dahab , Gulf of Aqaba , Red Sea . Rusty Parrotfish Figure 6 Material examined: Underwater photographs. Distinctive characters: Body depth 2.5–2.8 in SL; dorsal profile of head of terminal males nearly straight from before eye to dorsal fin; posterior nostril slightly smaller than anterior nostril; teeth fully fused to form dental plates, two-thirds or more covered by lips; cutting edge of dental plates usually slightly irregular, sometimes nearly smooth; upper dental plate with 1–2 conical teeth posteriorly in terminal males; caudal fin double emarginate in terminal males. Meristic values: Pectoral-fin rays 15; median predorsal scales 6–7, fifth scale largest; cheek with 3 scale rows, lower row with 2–4 scales. Colouration : Initial phase light gray-brown, the scale edges narrowly dark, with three dark gray-brown bars on body; head gray, with a white spot at corner of mouth; posterior part of dorsal and caudal fins yellow. Body of terminal males blue-green, scales rimmed with magenta, with pale bar in the middle, green posteriorly; head dorsally green suffused with yellow, sometimes with small green spots and short bands dorsally on snout and interorbital space; snout and chin green extending as stripe to below eye, two short stripes extending from posterior edge of eye; caudal fin deep blue, the upper and lower lobes pale blue-green. Distribution: Entire Arabian Region, from the northern Red Sea around the Arabian Peninsula, including the eastern Gulf of Aden and Socotra , to the Arabian /Persian Gulf ( Randall & Bruce 1983 ; Randall 1995; Buchanan et al . 2015 ; Lips et al . 2016 ). Remarks: Observed individuals match the description of Scarus ferrugineus ( Randall & Bruce 1983 ; Randall 1995), supporting the record of Zajonz et al . (2019) . Individuals were observed in coral-dominated habitats at all islands of the archipelago at depths of 3–15 m , though the species is moderately rare. Scarus persicus Randall & Bruce, 1983 is a closely related species but its initial phase lacks yellow on the caudal peduncle and the caudal fin. Terminal males of S. persicus have a dark bar centred on body, nearly always small green spots and irregular narrow green stripes present dorsally on snout and interorbital area, the chin with a green bar, and head anteriorly without green mask.