Review of the<i>Acanthopagrus latus</i>complex (Perciformes: Sparidae) with descriptions of three new species from the Indo‐West Pacific Ocean

<jats:p><jats:italic>Acanthopagrus latus</jats:italic>, long considered a single valid Indo‐West Pacific Ocean species, characterized by having yellow pelvic, anal and caudal fins, is reviewed and separated into<jats:italic>A. latus</jats:italic>(east Asian shelf) and<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus longispinnis</jats:italic>(Bengal Bay), and three new species:<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus morrisoni</jats:italic>sp. nov. (north‐western Australia),<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus arabicus</jats:italic>sp. nov. [Middle East (except for the Red Sea) to coasts of Iran and Pakistan, and western Indian coast] and<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus sheim</jats:italic>sp. nov. (The Gulf). Although<jats:italic>A. latus</jats:italic>as redefined considerably varies in morphology and colouration, it can be recognized as a discrete east Asian endemic, with the following nominal species being junior synonyms:<jats:italic>Chrysophrys auripes</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Chrysophrys xanthopoda</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Chrysophrys rubroptera</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Sparus chrysopterus</jats:italic>.<jats:italic>Chrysophrys novaecaledoniae</jats:italic>, known only from the holotype (type locality: Nouméa, New Caledonia), is a questionable junior synonym of<jats:italic>A. latus</jats:italic>, the lack of subsequent collections suggesting that the type locality is erroneous.<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus longispinnis</jats:italic>is differentiated from the other species in the complex by consistently having 12 dorsal‐fin spines and a much larger second anal‐fin spine, 21–26% (mean 23%) of standard length (<jats:italic><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">L<jats:sub>S</jats:sub></jats:styled-content></jats:italic>) (<jats:italic>v</jats:italic>. 14–24%, mean 18–21% in the other four species).<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus morrisoni</jats:italic>sp. nov. has the entire caudal fin yellow with a wide black posterior margin (persisting in preserved specimens) and consistently 3 ½ scale rows between the fifth dorsal‐fin spine base and the lateral line.<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus sheim</jats:italic>sp. nov. has the pelvic, anal and lower caudal fins vivid yellow, with two (rarely three) small black blotches on the lower inter‐radial membranes between the spinous and soft dorsal‐fin rays.<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus arabicus</jats:italic>sp. nov. consistently has 4 ½ scale rows between the fifth dorsal‐fin spine base and the lateral line, whereas<jats:italic>A. latus</jats:italic>always has black streaks proximally on the inter‐radial membranes between the yellow anal‐fin rays. A neotype and lectotye, respectively, are designated for<jats:italic>A. latus</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>A. longispinnis</jats:italic>. The<jats:italic>p</jats:italic>‐distance (net nucleotide substitutions per site) of partial mitochondrial<jats:italic>16s</jats:italic>ribosomal RNA genes (538 bp) among the above species (except<jats:italic>A. longispinnis</jats:italic>) and three other congeners (<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus berda</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus pacificus</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus bifasciatus</jats:italic>) strongly indicates that each is a distinct species. A key is provided for the 20 species of<jats:italic>Acanthopagrus</jats:italic>currently known from the Indo‐West Pacific Ocean.</jats:p>