Neobythites Goode & Bean 1885

Mincarone, Michael M., Nielsen, Jørgen G., Costa, Paulo A. S. & Rv, Rv, 2008, Deep-sea ophidiiform fishes collected on the Brazilian continental slope, between 11 ° and 23 ° S, Zootaxa 1770 (1), pp. 41-64 : 53

Neobythites Goode & Bean 1885

Type species. Neobythites gilli Goode & Bean 1885 , by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Ophidiid with horizontal diameter of eye window equal to or slightly shorter than snout; opercular spine strong and straight; 2 median basibranchial tooth patches; pelvic fins with two rays in each; often with ocelli and dark blotches in dorsal and anal fins.

Remarks. Examination of the present 18 Neobythites specimens showed three different ocellus-patterns: one specimen with one ocellus in the dorsal and none in the anal fin (= N. monocellatus ), 12 specimens with two ocelli in the dorsal fin (= the holotype of N. ocellatus caught at 9°5’S, 34°50’W) and five specimens with 3–5 ocelli in the dorsal and 2–4 in the anal fin (= the 308 specimens of N. ocellatus caught in the Caribbean Sea and further north [see Nielsen 1999, fig. 10]). This indicates that the typical N. ocellatus specimens are restricted to the continental slope off mid-Brazil and that the five specimens with more ocelli are similar to the 308 more northerly caught specimens. A manuscript dealing with the West Atlantic ocellus-bearing Neobythites species is under preparation.