Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5336 No. 2: 22 Aug. 2023
Type: Article
Published: 2023-08-22
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5336.2.2
Page range: 179-205
Abstract views: 2856
PDF downloaded: 845

Five new ocellus-bearing species of the cusk-eel genus Neobythites (Ophidiidae, Ophidiiformes) from the West Pacific, with establishment of three new species groups

1 Institute of Marine Research; P.O. Box 1870 Nordnes; N-5817 Bergen; Norway; National Research Foundation - South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity; Makhanda/Grahamstown; South Africa; Vietnam National Museum of Nature; Hanoi; Vietnam
Natural History Museum of Denmark; University of Copenhagen; Denmark
Pisces ocellus spot meristics morphometrics otoliths Solomon Sea Fiji Japan

Abstract

Five new West Pacific species of the cusk-eel genus Neobythites (Ophidiidae) from the lower shelf and upper slope of the Solomon Sea, off Okinawa, Japan, and off Fiji are described. The descriptions are based on nine specimens from three fish collections and unvouchered fresh colour photographs showing three specimens taken shortly after being caught. The new species all bear at least one ocellus on the dorsal fin, a conspicuous colour pattern consisting of a dark spot surrounded by a contrasting white or pale ring. Fifteen ocellus-bearing congeners are rather similar with at least one of the new species, requiring detailed comparisons based on a large set of morphometric, meristic, colour and otolith-shape data from over 300 specimens. To facilitate the comparisons among the 20 Neobythites species in total and the preparation of identification keys, three new taxonomic species groups, the australiensis, kenyaensis and longiventralis groups, are established. Also, the steatiticus species group which had been previously established, is slightly updated. A key for identification of each of these four groups is prepared. The most important characters for distinction among groups are the presence and number of preopercular spines, the number and position of ocelli, and pelvic-fin length. For each of the three new groups, species accounts including new species descriptions, within-group comparisons, and identification keys are prepared. For the steatiticus group, only the description of the new species, N. pako n. sp., and an updated account of the Atlantic N. monocellatus are provided, considering previously published accounts of the other seven species in comparisons with those two species and the identification key. The results are shortly discussed, emphasizing the finding of a unique ocellus structure in N. superocellatus n. sp. (australiensis species group) and the need for taxonomic studies of the remaining 10 ocellus-bearing species of Neobythites together with additional, non-ocellus-bearing congeners.

 

References

  1. Günther, A. (1887) Report on the deep-sea fishes collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–76. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the Years 1873–76 under the Command of Captain George S. Nares, R.N., F.R.S. and the Late Captain Frank Tourle Thomson, R.N., 22 (57), i–lxv + 1–268, pls. 1–66.
  2. Kamohara, T. (1938) On the Offshore Bottom-Fishes of Prov. Tosa, Shikoku, Japan. Maruzen Kobushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, 86 pp.
  3. Nielsen, J.G. (1995) A review of the species of the genus Neobythites (Pisces: Ophidiidae) from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of seven new species. Ichthyological Bulletin, 62, 1–19.
  4. Nielsen, J.G. (1997) Deepwater ophidiiform fishes from off New Caledonia with six new species. In: Séret, B. (Ed.), Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM 17. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 174, 51–82.
  5. Nielsen, J.G. (1999) A review of the genus Neobythites (Pisces, Ophidiidae) in the Atlantic, with three new species. Bulletin of Marine Science, 64 (2), 335–372.
  6. Nielsen, J.G. (2002) Revision of the Indo-Pacific species of Neobythites (Teleostei, Ophidiidae), with 15 new species. Galathea Report, 19, 5–105.
  7. Nielsen, J.G. & Uiblein, F. (2022) Ophidiidae. In: Heemstra, P.C., Heemstra, E., Ebert, D.A., Holleman, W. & Randall, J.E. (Eds.), Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean. Vol. 2. National Research Foundation—South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, pp. 243–251, pls. 41 + 42.
  8. Nielsen, J.G., Uiblein, F. & Mincarone, M.M. (2009) Ocellus-bearing Neobythites species (Teleostei: Ophidiidae) from the West Atlantic with description of a new species. Zootaxa, 2228 (1), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2228.1.4
  9. Okamoto, M., Nielsen J.G. & Motomura, H. (2011) First record of the cusk-eel, Neobythites australiensis Nielsen (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae), from the Northern Hemisphere. Biogeography, 13, 69–71.
  10. 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. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 44 (1948), 135–176, pls. 7–17. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.44-1948.135
  11. Richer de Forges, B. (1999) Bordau 1 cruise, RV Alis. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17600/99100020 (accessed 30 July 2023).
  12. Richer de Forges, B. (2001) Salomon 1 cruise, RV Alis. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17600/1100090 (accessed 30 July 2023)
  13. Richer de Forges, B. (2004) Salomon 2 cruise, RV Alis. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17600/4100090 (accessed 30 July 2023)
  14. Richer de Forges, B. (2007) Salomonboa cruise, RV Alis. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17600/7100070 (accessed 30 July 2023)
  15. Sabaj, M.H. (2020) Codes for natural history collections in ichthyology and herpetology. Copeia, 108 (3), 593–669. https://doi.org/10.1643/ASIHCODONS2020
  16. Uiblein, F. (1995) Morphological variability between populations of Neobythites stefanovi (Pisces: Ophidiidae) from the deep Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 124, 23–29. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps124023
  17. Uiblein, F. (1996) Constraints and exploratory windows in light-reduced marine habitats. In: Uiblein, F., Ott, J. & Stachowitsch, M. (Eds.), Deep-sea and Extreme Shallow-water Habitats: Affinities and Adaptations. Biosystematics and Ecology Series Vol. 11. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, pp. 165–182.
  18. Uiblein, F., Bordes, F., Lorance, P., Nielsen, J.G., Shale, D., Youngbluth, M. & Wienerroither, R. (2010) Behavior and habitat selection of deep-sea fishes: a methodological perspective. In: Uchida, S. (Ed.), Proceedings of an International Symposium “Into the Unknown, Researching Mysterious Deep-sea Animals”. 2007. Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Okinawa, pp. 5–21.
  19. Uiblein, F. & Nielsen J.G. (2005) Ocellus variation and possible functions in the genus Neobythites (Teleostei: Ophidiidae). Ichthyological Research, 52 (4), 364–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-005-0298-y
  20. Uiblein F. & Nielsen J.G. (2018) Review of the steatiticus species group of the cuskeel genus Neobythites (Ophidiidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with description of two new species. Zootaxa, 4387 (1), 157–173. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4387.1.7
  21. Uiblein, F. & Nielsen, J.G. (2019) Redescription of the ocellus-bearing cuskeel Neobythites kenyaensis (Ophidiidae), with new Southeast African records and remarks on intraspecific morphological and colour variation. Cybium, 43 (1), 109–116. https://doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2019-431-011
  22. Uiblein, F. & Nielsen, J.G. (2021) New record of the cuskeel genus Neobythites (Pisces, Ophidiidae) from the Solomon Sea with description of a new species and notes on colour patterns. Cybium, 45 (2), 83–88. https://doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2021-452-001
  23. Uiblein, F, Nielsen, J.G, Baldwin, C.C., Quattrini, A.M. & Robertson, R. (2019) Discovery of a distinctive spotted color pattern in the cuskeel Neobythites unicolor (Teleostei, Ophidiidae) based on underwater-vehicle dives, with new records from the southern and eastern Caribbean. Copeia, 107 (2), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1643/CI-18-148
  24. Uiblein, F., Nielsen, J.G. & Klausewitz, W. (1994) Depth dependent morphological variation in two ophidiiform fishes from the deep Red Sea: evidence for species-specific structure in vertical distribution. Cybium, 18 (1), 15–23. https://doi.org/10.26028/cybium/1994-181-002