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Revision of the bathyal fish genus Pseudonus (Teleostei, Bythitidae); P. squamiceps a senior synonym of P. platycephalus, new to Australian waters
Abstract
The viviparous, bathyal fish genus Pseudonus (Teleostei, Bythitidae, Bythitinae) is known from the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Three species have been described, all based on 1-2 specimens: P. acutus Garman, 1899 from the tropical East Pacific, P. platycephalus (Smith & Radcliffe, 1913) from the Indo-Australian area and P. squamiceps (Lloyd, 1907) from the Gulf of Aden. An additional 18 specimens have become available to justify this revision. The result has established the conspecificity of P. squamiceps and P. platycephalus with P. squamiceps the senior synomym of the two. The major differences between P. acutus and P. squamiceps are that the former has more dorsal (101-119 vs 95-102) and anal (74-85 vs 64-71) fin rays, more vertebrae (61-63 vs 55-58) and lacking pelvic fin rays (vs one of 15 specimens lacks pelvic fin rays). This is the first record of P. squamiceps from Australian waters.
... Taxonomy plays a crucial role in modern evolutionary biology ( Padial et al., 2009;Smith et al., 2013;Winsor, 2009) with its primary focus being descriptions of new taxa, resolution of names that are valid, available, synonyms, and/or homonyms. Clarity in the classification of life with proper names applied to taxa is fundamental to studies of life forms ( Imamura and Nagao, 2011;Iwatsuki and Heemstra, 2010;Nielsen, 2011). Acheilognathidae currently includes about 74 valid species, yet around 120 species names are available and have been used ( Eschmeyer, 2014). ...
... The intensive bottom trawling off northwestern Australia by the Research Vessel Southern Surveyor in 2007 revealed a number of new and rare ophidiiform fishes (Nielsen 2010(Nielsen , 2011. The present paper deals with one 39 mm SL adult male trawled at a depth of 392 m. ...
A new genus and species of bathyal bythitid fish (Teleostei: Ophidiiformes) is described based on a single specimen caught at a depth of 392 m in the Timor Sea off the coast of northwestern Australia. Timorichthys disjunctus gen. nov., sp. nov. differs from all other bythitid genera by the position of the anus midway between the tip of the snout and origin of the anal fin. The joined vertical fins and the type of intromittant organ furthermore place the new genus in the subfamily Bythitinae.
Cusk-eels of the order Ophidiiformes are a morphologically diverse assemblage of eel-like, elongate, posteriorly tapering percomorph fishes that occur worldwide in marine waters, from tropical reef areas to the deep sea. The about 400 extant and fossil species included in the ophidiiform clade are arranged into two main lineages, Bythitoidei and Ophidioidei, based on reproductive biology and the position of the anterior nostrils. The anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of these fishes are largely unknown, and the fossil record has not provided substantial information about the earliest phases of their evolutionary history. †Pastorius methenyi, new genus and species, the oldest member of the Ophidiiformes based on articulated skeletal remains, is described herein based on a single specimen collected from the Campanian-Maastrichtian organic-rich laminated limestone of the Liburnica Formation outcropping near the village of Trebiciano, north-eastern Italy. The comparative analysis of osteological and meristic features indicates that †Pastorius methenyi is characterized by at least one of the probable ophidiiform synapomorphies (exclusion of the supraoccipital from the posterior cranial margin by substantial posterodorsal extension of the exoccipitals) and exhibits a unique combination of characters, including a posteriorly broadly expanded maxilla; supramaxilla present; eight branchiostegals; 39 vertebrae; first neural spine shorter than those following; neural arch of first vertebra feebly connected to the first vertebral centrum though a narrow pedestal of bone; anterior abdominal vertebrae ostensibly lacking expanded ribs; caudal skeleton with ostensibly fused first preural, first ural centrum, first uroneural, and ventral hypural plate, and ostensibly fused second ural centrum and dorsal hypural plate, autogenous parhypural, and two epurals; caudal fin free, with 13 rays; a single ossified supraneural located in front of the second neural spine; and notably reduced number of dorsal- and anal-fin rays. †Pastorius is placed as the sister-group of all recent bythitoids, even if some features might indicate that it represents the sister-group of all ophidiiforms. †Pastorius provides the first unequivocal evidence that percomorphs with very elongate and compressed bodies were in existence in the Cretaceous, indicating that this group was characterized by a very high disparity and a vast diversification of bodyplans well before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. © 2015 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
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