Melanotaenia Sneideri, A New Species Of Rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) From West Papua Province, Indonesia

A new species of melanotaeniid rainbowfish, Melanotae- nia sneideri, is described from the Bomberai Peninsula in the southwestern Bird’s Head region of western New Guinea (West Papua Province, Indonesia). The new taxon is described on the basis of 25 specimens, 15.9-80.1 mm SL, collected from a karst spring-fed creek in a small ephemeral lake basin at an altitude of 1,050 m in the Kumawa Mountains. It is distinguished from congeners by a combination of the bright red body colour, dark brown to blackish dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins, and relatively deep body (to at least 42.3 persen of SL) of adult males. Additional diagnostic features include 18-20 gill rakers on the first branchial arch, 15-16 circumpeduncular scales, and an absence of vomerine teeth or a small, inconspicuous patch of rudimentary vomerine teeth. Aqua, International journal of Ichthyology Vol. 19 No. 3. P: 137-146.