Plectranthias klausewitzi Zajonz 2006

Diagnosis: This species is distinguished by the following characters: soft dorsal-fin rays 14 (14-15, mostly 14); pectoral-fin rays 15 (14-15, mostly 15), branched or double-branched except the uppermost; lateral line is complete with 29 tubed scales; oblique rows of scales on cheek 8 (7-8); scales on interorbit reaching almost to posterior nostril; noscales on maxilla and ventral aspects of head; posterior preopercular margin serrate, the ventral margin is smooth, usually without conspicuous spines; margins of subopercle and interopercle smooth; gill rakers 5 + 12 (4-5 + 11-13); body depth 3.0 (2.7-3.1) in SL; third dorsal spine longest, 1.9 (1.9-2.3) in head; preserved colour pale with nine or 10 oblique dark bars, a faint spot anteriorly on the ventral and the dorsal half of the caudal fin (Ref. 57792).

Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 15; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 7; Vertebrae: 26

The collection site is an extreme deep-water environment, characterised by a rough sea bottom, strong bottom current velocities, elevated temperatures of 21.5-22° C and increased salinities of 38-40 ppt, related to the outflow of deep Red Sea water above the seafloor into the Gulf of Aden. The new species represents a warm-adapted, Red Sea deep-water endemic. Gonad inspection of the female holotype revealed that it is mature with macroscopically well-developed ovaries. The fact that the oocytes were large and relatively few in number suggests that the spawning mode is benthic rather than pelagic. This would be consistent with the demersal life habit of the genus, and favour genetic isolation under the prevailing oceanographic conditions. Plectranthias klausewitzi is the first deep-dwelling species of the genus recorded from the Red Sea (Ref. 57792).

Plectranthias klausewitzi is a species of fish in the family Serranidae occurring in the Western Indian Ocean.