Pseudochromis yamasakii is the newest species of dottyback, this time hailing not from the typical Indonesian or Filipino reefs, but from the land of the rising sun, Japan. The species was described from just a single specimen from Kii Peninsula, Honshu, Japan, a fe photographs from the Izu Islands.
The reddish-colored Pseudochromis yamasakii looks superficially similar to another dottyback, Cypho zaps, but that species has significantly different fin structures. The new Pseudochromis yamasakii has the unique common name of the Dottybelly Dottyback, which is curiously not explained in the description.
Pseudochromis yamasakii lives at moderate depths from 18 to 45 meters, or about 60 to 150 feet deep. Also, the Dottybelly Dottyback has the distinction of being the most northerly species of Pseudochromis although other species with wide ranges have been documented in the same region of Japan. The Dottybelly Dottyback is described by Gill & Senou in the most recent volume of ZooTaxa.
