Serranus papilionaceus Valenciennes, 1832

– Moth-winged comber (see remarks)

Serranus papilionaceus: Valenciennes, 1842: 7 (C, L, T); Vella et al., 2021: 111-126 (C).

Serranus scriba var. papilionaceus: Vinciguerra, 1890: 469 (GC), 1893: 303 (GC, T).

Serranus scriba: Steindachner, 1867: 609-611 (T); Vinciguerra, 1883: 608 (T, L); Jordan and Gunn, 1899: 341 (C); Cadenat, 1935: 388-390 (C); Brito, 1991: 104 (C); Dooley et al., 1985: 15 (GC); Pizarro, 1985: 83 (F); González-Jiménez et al., 1994: 85 (C); Franquet and Brito, 1995: 67 (C); Brito et al., 2002: 217, 237 (C); González et al., 2012: 142-143 (C); Báez et al., 2019: suppl. tab. (C); Freitas et al., 2019: suppl. tab. S3 (C).

Paracentropristis scriba: Fowler, 1936: 766-768 (L, GC).

This species has been very recently resurrected as a valid Serranus species based on its morphology, colour pattern and phylogenetic characteristics (Vella et al., 2021). Therefore, the congeneric species Serranus scriba (Linnaeus, 1758) is now restricted to the Mediterranean Sea. To date, S. papilionaceus has been reported from the Canary Islands, Morocco (Cadenat, 1935; Collignon, 1973 – common), Mauritania (Cap Blanc, Baie du Levrier), Senegambia (at least off Dakar and Gorée Island, Senegal), Guinea-Bissau (Sanches, 1991) and southwards to Angola (Valenciennes, 1837 -1844; Cadenat, 1935; Vella et al., 2021). Reports of this species from Madeira and the Azores are unsubstantiated (Wirtz et al., 2008; Freitas et al., 2019).

A native species to the Canary Islands, frequent on the predominant sandy bottoms of the eastern islands, but occasional on the predominant rocky ones of the western islands. It inhabits from 3 to 80 m depth (Brito et al., 2002). Reported maximum size: to 36 cm TL and 0.670 kg (González et al., 2012); common to 30 cm TL. Spanish vernacular names: vaquita; vaqueta; cabrilla pintada. It is a secondary fishery resource exploited all year round by local small-scale fisheries with hook-and-line, traps and trammel nets (González et al., 2020). Its landings showed no notable trend over the period of 2014-2019, yielding a mean value near 5.9 t /y, with a peak of 13.7 t in 2018. This resource is also subject to some recreational fishing activity.

Its English common name proposed by Vella et al. (2021) is intended to derive from the original name (“le serran papilionacé”) used by Valenciennes, since the species exhibits a striking chromatic feature: “les nageoires impaires sont rougeâtres avec des linéaments ou des ocelles violets, simulant des taches que l’on rencontre sur les ailes des papillons de nuit”. Therefore, in correct English it should be ”mothwinged” comber, given the clear difference between “butterfly” (diurnal) and “moth” (nocturnal).