Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Redescription of Bassozetus compressus (Günther 1878), a senior synonym of Bassozetus elongatus Smith and Radcliffe 1913 (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae)

  • Full Paper
  • Published:
Ichthyological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Re-examination of two deep-sea ophidiid species, Bassozetus compressus (Günther 1878) and Bassozetus elongatus Smith and Radcliffe in Radcliffe 1913, based on specimens from the West Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, disclosed no morphologically significant differences amongst those from the West Pacific, including the lectotype of B. compressus and holotype of B. elongatus. Two characters considered to distinguish between the species [pelvic-fin length to standard length (SL) ratio and position of a small process on the sagittal otolith] were found to be invalid, leading to the conclusion that B. compressus is a senior synonym of B. elongatus. The remaining specimens from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, previously reported as B. compressus or B. elongatus, represented one or more as-yet undescribed species. A detailed redescription of B. compressus is provided on the basis of the West Pacific specimens, the species being distinguishable from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays 118–127; pectoral-fin rays 22–26; oblique scales ca. 18–20; vertebrae 11–13 + 54–58 = 66–69; distance between base of pelvic fin to origin of anal fin 15.8–20.5 % SL; eye diameter 2.0–2.7 times in snout length; a median basibranchial tooth patch; anterior margin of sagittal otolith with a small process, dorsal margin smooth. Two specimens of B. compressus, collected from off Uotsurijima Island, Senkaku Islands and Kumejima Island, Okinawa Islands, represent the first record of this species from Japanese waters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcock AW (1890) Natural history notes from H. M. Indian Marine survey steamer “Investigator”, Commander R. F. Hoskyn, R. N., commanding. -No. 16. On the bathybial fishes collected in the Bay of Bengal during the season 1889–1890. Ann Mag Natl Hist Ser 6 6:197–222

  • Beamish RJ, Leask KD, Ivanov OA, Balanov AA, Orlov AM, Sinclair B (1999) The ecology, distribution, and abundance of midwater fishes of the Subarctic Pacific gyres. Prog Oceanogr 43:399–442

  • Beaufort LF de, Chapman WM (1951) The fishes of the Indo-Australian archipelago, IX. E J Brill Ltd, Leiden

  • Cockerell TDA (1916) The scales of the Brotulid fishes. Ann Mag Natl Hist Ser 8 18:317–325

  • Cohen DM, Nielsen JG (1978) Guide to the identification of genera of the fish order Ophidiiformes with a tentative classification of the order. NOAA Tech Rep NMFS Circ 417:1–72

  • Fowler HW (1936) The marine fishes of West Africa. Bull Amer Mus Natl Hist 70:1–1493

  • Fricke R, Eschmeyer WN (2015) A guide to fish collections in the catalog of fish electronic version. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/collections.asp. Accessed 16 March 2015

  • Fricke R, Kulbicki M, Wantiez L (2011) Checklist of the fishes of New Caledonia, and their distribution in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (Pisces). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde A, Neue Serie 4:341–463

  • Garman S (1899) The fishes. Mem Mus comp Zool Harvard 24:1–431

  • Garrido-Linares M, Acero PA (2006) Ophidiiform fishes of the western tropical Atlantic with special emphasis on the Colombian Caribbean Sea. Biota Colombiana 7:283–299

  • Gill TN (1883) Diagnosis of new genera and species of deep-sea fish-like vertebrates. Proc US Natn Mus 6:253–260

  • Goode GB, Bean TH (1896) Oceanic ichthyology. US Natn Mus Spec Bull 2:1–553

  • Grey M (1956) The distribution of fishes found below a depth of 2000 meters. Fieldiana Zool 36:75–337

  • Günther A (1878) Preliminary notice of deep-sea fishes collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger. Ann Mag Natl Hist Ser 5 2:17–28, 179–187, 248–251

  • Günther A (1887) Report on the deep-sea fishes collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–76. Rep Sci Res Challenger 22 (Zool):i–xv+1–335, 73 pls

  • Hoese DF, Paxton JR, Gates JE, Bray DJ (2006) Ophidiidae. In: Beesley PL, Wells A (eds) Zoological catalogue of Australia. Vol 35. Fishes. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing, Australia, pp 556–566

  • Hubbs CL, Lagler KF (1958) Fishes of the Great Lakes region. Bull Cranbrook Inst Sci 26:1–213, 44 pls

  • Jordan DS, Evermann BW (1898) The fishes of North and Middle America. US Natn Mus Bull 47:2183–3136

  • Machida Y (1989) A new deep-sea ophidiid fish, Bassozetus levistomatus, from the Izu-Bonin Trench, Japan. Jpn J Ichthyol 36: 87–189

  • Nielsen JG (1997) Deepwater ophidiiform fishes from off New Caledonia with six new species. Mem Mus Natn Hist Natl 174:51–82

  • Nielsen JG (1999) Ophidiidae. In: Carpenter KE, Niem VH (eds) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the western central Pacific. Volume 3: Batoid fishes, chimeras and Bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome, pp 1979–1982

  • Nielsen JG, Cohen DM, Markle DF, Robins CR (1999) Ophidiiform fishes of the world (order Ophidiiformes). FAO species catalogue vol 18. FAO, Rome

  • Nielsen JG, Merrett NR (2000) Revision of the cosmopolitan deep-sea genus Bassozetus (Pisces: Ophidiidae) with two new species. Galathea Rep 18:7–56, 1 pl

  • Nielsen JG, Møller PR (2008) New and rare deep-sea ophidiiform fishes from the Solomon Sea caught by the Danish Galathea 3 Expedition. Steenstrupia 30:21–46

  • Nielsen JG, Robins CR (2003) Ophidiidae. In: Carpenter KE (ed) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the western central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO, Rome, pp 965–972

  • Ohashi S, Shinohara G (2015) An additional record of Bassozetus levistomatus Machida 1989 from the Western North Pacific (Teleostei, Ophidiiformes, Ophidiidae). Bull Natl Mus Natl Sci Ser A 41:69–75

  • Radcliffe L (1913) Descriptions of seven new genera and thirty-one new species of fishes of the families Brotulidae and Carapidae from the Philippine Islands and the Dutch East Indies. Proc US Natn Mus 44:135–176

  • Rass TS (1955) Deepsea fishes of the Kurile-Kamchatka trench. Trud Inst Okeanol 12:328–339

  • Shcherbachev YN (1980) Preliminary review of deep-sea ophidiids (Ophidiidae, Ophidiiformes) of the Indian Ocean. Trud Inst Okeanol 110:105–176

  • Takami M, Tomiyama S, Fukui A (2011) First record of a deep-sea ophidiid fish, Bassozetus robustus, from Japan. Jpn J Ichthyol 58:177–180

  • Tomiyama S, Takami M, Fukui A (2011) First record of a deep-sea ophidiid fish, Bassozetus glutinosus, from Japan. Jpn J Ichthyol 58:93–97

  • Vaillant LL (1888) Expeditions scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman pendant les annees 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883. Poissons. Paris

  • Yeh HM, Lee MY, Shao KT (2005) Fifteen Taiwanese new records of ophidiid fishes (Pisces: Ophidiidae) collected from the deep waters by the RV ‘Ocean Researcher I’. J Fish Soc Taiwan 32:279–299

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are most grateful to the following persons for specimen loans: J. Maclaine and T. Heath (BMNH), H. Endo and N. Nakayama (BSKU), P. Pruvost and R. Casse (MNHN), G. Shinohara (NSMT), D. Catania (CAS), J. T. Williams and S. J. Raredon (USNM), J. G. Nielsen (ZMUC), E. J. Hilton (VIMS) and P.-L. Lin (Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan). We also thank J. G. Nielsen (ZMUC) and W. Schwarzhans (Hamburg, Germany) for helpful comments and G. S. Hardy (Ngunguru, New Zealand) for his critical reading of the manuscript. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Promotion of Scientific Research (C) (no. 25450280) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan to the last author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Science Museum, Tokai University, 2389 Miho, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, 424-8620, Japan

    Shinichi Tomiyama

  2. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan

    Munehiro Takami & Atsushi Fukui

Authors
  1. Shinichi Tomiyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Munehiro Takami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Atsushi Fukui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinichi Tomiyama.

Additional information

This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as 8B788C98-BA6C-42EE-9053-2E1E2A7EA3CC.

This article was published as an Online First article on the online publication date shown on this page. The article should be cited by using the doi number.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tomiyama, S., Takami, M. & Fukui, A. Redescription of Bassozetus compressus (Günther 1878), a senior synonym of Bassozetus elongatus Smith and Radcliffe 1913 (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae). Ichthyol Res 63, 218–226 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-015-0491-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-015-0491-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation