A new species of gobiid fish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cristatogobius rubripectoralis</Emphasis>, from Australia

 A species of the gobiid genus Cristatogobius from northeastern Australia is described as new. This species is distinguishable from other species of the genus in having a higher number of scales in a longitudinal row and in a transverse row and a rounded caudal fin. In addition, there are differences in coloration such as brown reticulation on the upper anterior part of body and a red pectoral fin. A species of Cristatogobius reported from S. Java, Indonesia, is also identified as this species. Received: May 21, 2002 /Revised: November 15, 2002 / Accepted: December 16, 2002     

Mesopristes iravi, a new terapontid fish (Perciformes: Terapontidae) from rivers of Iriomote Island, the Ryukyu Islands

 A new terapontid fish, Mesopristes iravi, is described based on 13 specimens collected on Iriomote Island, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. This species closely resembles M. argenteus (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829) in having dark stripes on the body, but differs from that species in retaining the stripes even in adults (vs. stripes disappearing ontogenetically in the latter species), having the median stripe passing through the eye interrupted on the postorbital region (vs. continuous when the stripe present), a shorter fifth (longest) dorsal spine (14.6–19.7% SL vs. 18.0–22.2% SL), and a longer postorbital length (40.0–43.0% HL vs. 37.8–40.7% HL). Mesopristes iravi has been confused with M. argenteus in previous reports, and on the basis of the literature it may extend from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, southward to Borneo, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Received: August 6, 2001 / Revised: February 24, 2002 / Accepted: March 7, 2002     

Pseudanthias calloura (Teleostei: Perciformes), a new serranid fish from Palau, Central Pacific

A new anthine fish, Pseudanthias calloura, is described on the basis of three specimens from Palau. The new species differs from other congeners in having a complicated color pattern of the caudal fin and the following characters: moderately forked caudal fin; dorsal fin with 10 spines, the anterior ones being shorter than the rest, and with 16 soft rays; second anal spine shorter than the third; 19 pectoral rays; scales on lateral line 51 (holotype) to 53 (paratypes) in number; tongue without teeth; circumorbital rim with several fleshy projection on posterior part; a row of fine scales occurring asymmetrically behind alternate dorsal spines on both left and right sides; preopercle margin finely serrated; interopercle and subopercle margins smooth. Received: June 9, 1999 / Revised: September 23, 2000 / Accepted: February 23, 2001     

A new species of the cardinalfish genus Gymnapogon (Perciformes, Apogonidae) from the Red Sea

 A new cardinalfish species, Gymnapogon melanogaster, is described from two specimens collected at night in the Gulf of Aqaba, Eilat, Israel. This species is characterized by having 9 dorsal and 8 anal fin soft rays; 14–15 pectoral fin rays; 2 + 11 gill rakers; a flat, bifurcated preopercular spine; a naked body without a papillae network; black pelvic fins; and a black stomach. It is similar to Gymnapogon vanderbilti (Fowler, 1938) that is known only from the Line Islands of the Central Pacific Ocean. Received: December 26, 2001 / Revised: June 10, 2002 / Accepted: June 24, 2002 Acknowledgments We thank D. Didier and M. Sabaj of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, for loans of and for taking data from type specimens; T.H. Fraser of the Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, kindly provided data on type specimens. We are grateful to E. Heemstra of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, South Africa, for the artwork presented in this article and to A. Lerner of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for his assistance in collecting the specimens. Correspondence to:Ofer Gon     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lycenchelys</Emphasis> (Perciformes: Zoarcidae) from the Pacific coast of northern Japan

 Lycenchelys tohokuensis sp. nov. is described from five specimens, 199–270 mm SL. Unknown before 1997, specimens were collected along the Pacific side of the Tohoku coast, from off Aomori to Fukushima prefectures at depths of 543–709 m. The species differs from all congeners in the northwestern Pacific chiefly in the lack of pelvic fins, having a double lateral line configuration, relatively low vertebral counts, two rows of palatine teeth, and its head pore pattern. The new species does not appear to be closely related to any other northwestern Pacific Lycenchelys including the only other one without pelvic fins, Lycenchelys fedorovi Anderson and Balanov, 2000. Received: March 26, 2002 / Revised: July 8, 2002 / Accepted: July 9, 2002 Acknowledgments We are indebted to Dr. Daiji Kitagawa, Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institution, and participants in his research cruises, including Drs. T. Hattori, Y. Shimizu, K. Uchikawa, and T. Nobetsu, for collecting and supplying the five specimens described here. We also thank the crews of the R/V Wakataka-Maru and T/V Tanshu-Maru for their help aboard ship. Elaine Heemstra, J.L.B. Smith Institute, South Africa, rendered the figures. Correspondence to:M. Eric Anderson     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Acropoma argentistigma</Emphasis>, a new species from the Andaman Sea,off southern Thailand (Perciformes: Acropomatidae)

 A new acropomatid fish, Acropoma argentistigma, is described on the basis of six specimens (59.0–107.5 mm in standard length) from the Andaman Sea, off southern Thailand (Phuket Island). The new species is distinguished from all other congeners by the combination of the following characters: a short U-shaped luminous gland, 16–18 gill rakers, anus situated about midway along depressed pelvic fin, proximal radial of first anal fin pterygiophore with a trough, a single row of well-developed conical teeth on the lower jaw, and head length 40.0–41.1% of standard length. Received: April 17, 2001 / Revised: April 15, 2002 / Accepted: May 7, 2002     

Siphonogobius nue, a new genus and species of gobiid fish from japan

A new genus and species of gobiid fish,Siphonogobius nue, based on 15 specimens, is described from temperate Pacific coasts of Japan. It is unique amongst gobioids in having a simple tube-like infraorbital canal extending below the eye and the oculoscapular canal between pores A' and L' without openings, except for the terminal pores and pore D. Although well-developed infraorbital canals occur in two other gobioid genera, the rhyacichthyidRhyacichthys and the gobiidLophiogobius, such are distinct from that ofSiphonogobius in having several branches and openings. Furthermore, the new taxon is distinguished from all other gobioids by the following combination of characters: first dorsal-fin spines 7–9 (usually 8); pectoral-fin rays 24–26, the upper 7–9 rays free from the fin membrane; pelvic frenum thick, robust and slightly emarginate posteriorly; scales small and cycloid, 87–96 in longitudinal series; vertebrae 14–15+19–20=33–34 (usually 14+20=34); P-V usually 3/I II II I I I 0/11; anal-fin pterygiophores anterior to the first haemal spine 3–4 (usually 3); a row of short fleshy flaps on the ventral surface of the head, extending from the lower edge of the preopercle to the chin; anterior nostril with a minute skin flap. Axial skeletal features indicated thatSiphonogobius is closely related to a group which includesAcanthogobius and its relatives.     

Two new species of chimaeroid fishes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean (Holocephali, Chimaeridae)

 Two new species of chimaeroid fishes from the family Chimaeridae are described on the basis of morphological characters. The carpenter's chimaera is a large-bodied species of Chimaera distinguished from its congeners by massive head with blunt snout; firm, nondeciduous skin; purplish color; preopercular and oral lateral line canals branching together; and pelvic claspers that are divided for the distal one third of length, purple at the base with white fleshy tips. The pale ghost shark is a species of Hydrolagus distinguished from its congeners by a dorsal fin spine that reaches to the origin of the second dorsal fin when depressed; elongate second dorsal fin not indented along its length; preopercular and oral lateral line canals sharing a common branch; long, stout caudal filament; and pale silvery-gray coloration fading to white ventrally. The pale ghost shark has long been recognized as a new species from New Zealand, and formal taxonomic recognition of this species will prove important for fishery management. Received: October 15, 2001 / Revised: May 1, 2002 / Accepted: May 29, 2002 Acknowledgments I am grateful to Peter Last, Alastair Graham (CSIRO, Dept. of Marine Research), Clive Roberts, Andrew Stewart (NMNZ, Wellington), and Mark McGrouther and Doug Hoese (AMS, Sydney), for their hospitality and support of this research. This work was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-9510735) and the National Geographic Society (no. 5414–95), and also funded in part by the New Zealand Foundation for Scientific Research and Technology, Biosystematics of NZ EEZ Fishes Project, contract MNZ603, C. Roberts, program leader.     

Channa nox, a new channid fish lacking a pelvic fin from Guangxi, China

 A new species of channid fish, genus Channa, is described from 7 specimens collected from the vicinity of Hepu, Guangxi Province, southern China. The new species, Channa nox, is distinguished from all other channid species by the following combination of characters: absence of pelvic fins, small rounded head (22.1%–26.8% SL), narrow interorbital width (19.6%–26.7% HL), short snout length (3.6%–5.1% SL), predorsal and prepectoral lengths (26.9%–28.4% SL and 24.8%–28.3% SL, respectively), 47–51 dorsal fin rays, 31–33 anal fin rays, 55–63 lateral line scales, 5.5–6.5 scales above lateral line, 9–13 cheek scales, 53–55 total vertebrae, 1 or 2 scale(s) on each side of lower jaw undersurface, the black upper half of body with 8–11 irregular (often anteriorly pointed V-shaped) bands or blotches, a large white-rimmed black ocellus on caudal peduncle and sparse white spots on the dark brown body and dorsal and caudal fins, as well as the shape of the hyomandibular process of the suprabranchial organs. Channa nox is sympatrically distributed with its morphologically most similar congener, C. asiatica. Received: January 18, 2001 / Revised: November 2, 2001 / Accepted: December 12, 2001     

Spot-fixed fin digging behavior in foraging of the benthophagous maiden goby, Pterogobius virgo (Perciformes: Gobiidae)

 Several patterns of feeding behaviors have been documented in benthophagous fishes. The foraging behavior of the maiden goby, Pterogobius virgo, was studied at Kurahashi Island in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Pterogobius virgo foraged mostly on polychaetes by volume from among several available prey items by digging in the sandy bottom. The digging behavior comprised swing of only pectoral fins or of both pectoral fins and body. Pectoral fin swing exposed the cryptic prey within the bottom, and fins and body swing exposed the prey and washed the sediment away. The swings were repeatedly and continuously conducted at a site during the daytime, making a pit several centimeters deep in which the fish was located. After the prey was exposed, the fish immediately and rapidly picked up the prey. Polychaetes were abundant prey in the sediment, occurring in the layer 3–5 cm deep from the bottom surface in the study area. In this goby, spot-fixed fin digging, the first documentation of feeding habits in gobies, may be effective for feeding on the most valuable prey, i.e., polychaetes, which may be otherwise unavailable for this fish. Received: April 24, 2001 / Revised: April 26, 2002 / Accepted: May 7, 2002     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parakysis notialis</Emphasis>, a new species of akysid catfish from Borneo (Siluriformes: Akysidae)

 Parakysis notialis sp. nov. is described from the Barito River drainage in southern Borneo. It can be distinguished from congeners in having a unique combination of the following characters: head length 26.5–27.0% SL, conical head, presence of median concavity on margin of lower lip, presence of laterosensory canal pore between inner and outer mandibular barbels, branched outer mandibular barbels, branches of inner mandibular barbels separated, deeply forked caudal fin with pointed lobes, 5 pectoral fin rays, 10 branched principal caudal fin rays, sparsely pigmented caudal fin, and absence of light brown saddle from base of posteriormost dorsal fin ray to caudal peduncle. Received: February 11, 2002 / Revised: September 4, 2002 / Accepted: October 11, 2002 Acknowledgments We thank Takashige Idei for the gift of the specimens of the new species, and Darrell Siebert (BMNH), David Catania (CAS), Karsten Hartel (MCZ), Douglas Nelson (UMMZ), and Kelvin Lim (ZRC) for permission to examine material under their care. Funding from a Block Grant from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan and the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan provided financial support for this project. Correspondence to:Heok Hee Ng     

A new genus and two new species of gobiid fishes (Perciformes) from the Chagos Archipelago,Central Indian Ocean

Synopsis A recent (1979) expedition to the Chagos Archipelago resulted in the collection of about 40 new taxa of fishes. A new genus,Trimmatom, and two new species,T. nanus andT. offucius, are described here. The new genus is characterized by having all pelvic-fin rays simple (unbranched), a scaleless body, no head pores, a wide gill opening extending anteroventrally to below the eye, and hypurals 1 and 2 fused to the complex formed by the fusion of the ural centrum and hypurals 3 and 4.T. nanuss andT. offucius are differentiated on the basis of fin ray counts and colour pattern.T. nanus is the smallest vertebrate yet to be described. Mature females with ovaries full of eggs are 8–10 mm in standard length.     

Engyprosopon vanuatuensis, a new species of bothid flounder (Pleuronectiformes: Bothidae) from off Vanuatu, South West Pacific

A new bothid flounder, Engyprosopon vanuatuensis, is described on the basis of 15 specimens (9 males and 6 females, 41.1–55.8mm in standard length) collected from deep waters (163–165m) off Vanuatu Island in 1994 during the French exploratory cruise MUSORSTOM 8. The new species clearly differs from its congeners in having a short body, big eyes, large scales, and many gill rakers without serrations. Remarkable sexual dimorphism appears in interorbital width, anterior curve of head profile, rostral and orbital spines, length of ocular-side pectoral fin, small dots on eyes, and pigmentation of blind-side body.     

Systematics of the tribe Trematocarini (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika, Africa

 Phylogenetic relationships among eight Trematocara species and a single Telotrematocara species included in the Tanganyikan cichlid tribe Trematocarini were investigated on the basis of morphological features. The monophyly of the tribe is supported by the presence of hypertrophied sensory pores on the head, tendon “c” of adductor mandibulae section 1, a single scale row between the upper lateral line and body axis, great depth of the anteriormost infraorbital (reversed in Trematocara caparti and T. stigmaticum), and the absence of a lower lateral line. Trematocara is paraphyletic unless Telotrematocara is treated as a junior synonym. Received: December 10, 2001 / Revised: March 18, 2002 / Accepted: April 4, 2002     

Porocottus leptosomus sp. nov., from the west coast of Korea, Yellow Sea (Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae)

 A new cottid species, Porocottus leptosomus, is described on the basis of 12 specimens collected from Taean, west coast of Korea, Yellow Sea. The species is distinguished from other species of Porocottus by the following combination of characters: a strongly compressed body, two pairs of branched cirri on the dorsal surface of the head, bases of head cirri smooth, a single cirrus on the dorsal tip of each spine of the first dorsal fin, a single opening of the sixth canaliculus of the infraorbital sensory canal, a long posterior medial canaliculus of the occipital canal with the terminal pore and a few supplementary pores, and melanophores on the isthmus hidden beneath the branchiostegal membrane. Received: January 11, 2001 / Revised: February 7, 2002 / Accepted: March 4, 2002     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Epigonus cavaticus</Emphasis> (Teleostei: Perciformes), a new epigonid fish from Palau,western Central Pacific

A new epigonid fish, Epigonus cavaticus, is described on the basis of eight specimens (59.2–69.5 in standard length: SL) collected from a cave at depth 20 m, southern fringing reef of Ngemelis Island, Palau. The species differs from other congeners by having minute teeth on both jaws, no opercular spine, pyloric caeca 7–8, gill rakers 25–27, total pored lateral line scales 48–50, dorsal fin rays VII-I, 10–11 (mode VII-I, 10), pectoral fin rays 16, vertebrae 10 + 15, body depth 21.4–25.0% SL, pectoral fin length 22.7–24.6% SL, eye diameter 44.4–47.5% head length: HL, upper jaw length 40.2–42.5% HL. Four paratypes (63.7–66.8 mm SL) of the new species are female with mature gonads, it is the smallest in size at sexual maturity among the congeners.     

Dolichopteryx minuscula, a new species of spookfish (Argentinoidei: Opisthoproctidae) from the Indo-West Pacific

A new species Dolichopteryx minuscula is described on the basis of three specimens [49.4–59.6 mm in standard length (SL)] collected from the Indo-West Pacific. The new species is characterized by pouchlike eyes with a small lens (lens diameter 2.2% SL), an adipose fin, the anal fin base originating posterior to the dorsal fin base, and 16–17 (= 5–6 + 1 + 10–11) gill rakers. Total fecundity was relatively low, only 658 ova being obtained from one specimen, despite the ovary being mature. Ovarian eggs were clearly subdivided into “undeveloped” (0.1–0.7 mm diameter classes, n = 561) and “developed” (1.0–1.3 mm classes, n = 97) groups, based on their frequency distribution. Such relatively low fecundity and frequency distributions of ovarian eggs suggest that Dolichopteryx species spawn iteratively during spawning season.