Orange-headed Anthias

Pseudanthias heemstrai has the typical elongate body shape of the anthias, the body being just under three times as long as it is deep. It has a large mouth in which the maxilla extends past the level of the centre of the eye and the lower jaw projects slightly beyond the upper jaw. The dorsal fin has 15-17 rays, while the anal fin has 7 rays and is enlarged and pointed in both sexes, reaching to beyond the caudal fin base. The caudal fin has a slightly truncate or emarginate margin in females. In males, this is convex or truncate, with some males having the lower rays exposed beyind the membrane. The males also have very elongated pelvic fins, which have their first two rays enlarged and may extend beyond the base of the anal fin. The bodies of males are largely reddish above, with each scale having a yellow spot and a red edge. The sides of the head are dull orange, becoming reddish pink towards the top of the head, and the gill cover is golden. The lower parts of the head and the body are pale pink, with a scarlet streak on the middle of the throat. They have pale bluish grey anal and pelvic fins which have irregular yellow spotting. The caudal fin is dark red with a yellow or light blue-grey rear margin. When breeding, the pinkish red scale margins on the flanks of the males intensify to scarlet, and the yellow spot in the scale centres of the scales becomes darker. …

Pseudanthias heemstrai is endemic to the Red Sea, where it has been recorded in the Gulf of Aqaba, 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) north of Dahab and off the Red Sea coast of Yemen.

The fish was named in honor of ichthyologist Phil Heemstra, of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, in recognition of his research on anthiine fishes.