Histiophryne pogonius, Arnold, Rachel J., 2012

Arnold, Rachel J., 2012, A new species of frogfish of the genus Histiophryne (Teleostei: Lophiiformes: Antennariidae) from Lombok and Komodo, Indonesia, Zootaxa 3253, pp. 62-68 : 63-66

Histiophryne pogonius sp. nov.

Type material. Holotype: UW 118820, 48.1 mm, male, procured through the live fish trade, reportedly from Cebu, Philippines. Figure 1 .

Paratypes: UW 119522, 53.9 mm, female, Lombok, Indonesia; UW 119523, female, 53.7 mm, Lombok, Indonesia; UW 119920, 49.6 mm, female, Lombok, Indonesia. Figure 2 .

Diagnosis. A frogfish of the lophiiform family Antennariidae , genus Histiophryne , unique in having the entire body, including the lips and outer margins of the sclera, covered with dark spots encircled with a white ring (fig. 2); cheeks with numerous small shallow depressions, giving a pitted appearance to the head; and genetic divergence in the cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) gene.

Description. Body short and deep, somewhat compressed laterally, vertebral column distinctly sigmoid in shape (as determined by radiographs); head large, length approximately 29−40% standard length (SL); mouth small (relative to other antennariid taxa), opening strongly oblique to nearly vertical. Jaws bearing 2 – 4 irregular rows of small villiform teeth; similar teeth present on vomer and palatine. Eye diameter 4.3 – 5.1%. Spinous dorsal fin consisting of three widely spaced spines, anteriormost spine (illicium) short, barely discernible with aid of a dissecting microscope; second and third dorsal-fin spines laid back and bound down to surface of head by thick skin; esca and illicium extremely small, barely discernible even with aid of dissecting microscope; pectoral-fin lobe elongate, leg-like, attached to side of body by loose skin for most of its length. Opercular opening restricted to a small, elongate, tube-like opening situated immediately posteroventral to base of pectoral fin. Caudal peduncle absent, thick fleshy posteriormost margin of soft-dorsal and anal fins extending posteriorly well beyond base of caudal fin, connecting to outermost caudal-fin rays. Skin covering head and body everywhere thick, fleshy, and lacking any visible trace of dermal spinules. Small white patches, resembling coralline algae, always present on body behind pectoral fins, and sometimes present on cheeks. Head covered with cutaneous cirri, especially around the ventrolateral margins of the opercle, subopercle, articular, and part of the dentary, giving the fish a bearded appearance. Rays of dorsal, anal, pectoral, and pelvic fins all simple; outermost rays of caudal fin simple, innermost all bifurcate. Dorsal-fin rays 13–14; anal-fin rays 7; pectoral-fin rays 8; pelvic fin with 1 spine and 5 rays; caudal-fin rays 9; vertebrae 20, including the anteriormost and posteriormost centra fused to the cranium and hypural plate, respectively.

Color in preservation: All specimens lost pink coloration upon placement in ethanol, but the small dark spots that cover the body are still clearly visible. White patches located behind pectoral fins, and on the cheeks of some specimens, are still discernible.

Molecular results. Results are summarized in Figure 4 . Analysis of RAG2, COI, and 16S sequences included 441, 718, and 620 bps, respectively. Histiophryne maggiewalker was recovered as sister to H. bougainvilli with posterior probability of 1.0. Histiophryne psychedelica was recovered as sister to H. cryptacanthus with a posterior probability of 0.52, and H. pogonius was recovered as sister to them with a posterior probability of 1.0. Histiophryne cryptacanthus , H. pogonius , and H. psychedelica , all tropical species, were recovered as sister to H. bougainvilli and H. maggiewalker , both subtropical species, with posterior probability of 1.0. Additionally, a study by Arnold and Pietsch (2012) that included more taxon sampling and used MrBayes ( Huelsenbeck and Ronquist 2001) on a concatenated dataset recovered the same relationship between H. pogonius (designated by them as Histiophryne sp. 1), H. psychedelica , and H. cryptacanthus . Intraspecific COI DNA sequence divergence between H. pogonius and H. cryptacanthus was 6.3%, between H. pogonius and H. psychedelica 5.5%, and between H. bougainvilli and H. maggiewalker , 6.4%.

Etymology. The specific epithet pogonius alludes to the bearded appearance formed from the cutaneous cirri on the ventrolateral margins of the head.

Distribution and behavior. Known only from shallow inshore waters of Lombok and Komodo islands, Indonesia, and perhaps nearshore waters surrounding Cebu, Philippines. The species appears to occur within reef habitat and may be more active at night. Two of the procured specimens lived peacefully together in an aquarium for many months (pers. obs.), despite reports of Antennarius and Histrio becoming cannibalistic and aggressive toward conspecifics in aquaria ( Mosher 1954; Rasquin 1958; Pietsch and Grobecker 1987). Several specimens of H. cryptacanthus also coexisted peacefully in an aquarium (B. Gim, pers. comm., 7 March 2007). In addition, Arnold and Pietsch (2011) speculated that two adult and two juvenile H. maggiewalker collected together may have been coexisting peacefully, suggesting that Histiophryne may not be cannibalistic or as aggressive as Antennarius and Histrio .

Material examined. Tathicarpus butleri, Abrolmus Island, Western Australia, WAM 32904.001, Genbank accession nos. GU188502 , GU188551 , GQ981547 ; Lophiocharon trisignatus , live fish trade, UW 115748, Genbank accession nos. FJ219610 , FJ219617 , FJ219603 ; L. lithinostomus , live fish trade, UW 115749, Genbank accession nos. FJ219611 , FJ219618 , FJ219604 ; Histiophryne maggiewalker, Alexandria Bay, Noosa Heads , southeast Queensland, QM I.38176, Genbank accession nos. JF755972 , JF755974 , GQ981544 ; H. bougainvilli, Nelson Bay , NSW, Australia, UW 118990 (1 of 2), Genbank accession nos. JF755970 , JF755973 , JN835574 ; H. psychedelica , Ambon Island, Indonesia, NCIP 6377, Genbank accession nos. FJ219608 , FJ219615 , FJ219601 ; H. cryptacanthus , live fish trade, UW 117820, Genbank accession nos. FJ219614 , FJ219621 , FJ219607 ; H. cryptacanthus , live fish trade, UW 117821, Genbank accession nos. GU188512 , GU188545 , GQ981542 ; H. cryptacanthus , live fish trade, UW 117816, Genbank accession nos. JF755971 , JF755977 , JN835577 ; H. pogonius , live fish trade, UW118820, Genbank accession nos. GU188514 , GU188544 , GQ981543 .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Histiophryne pogonius, new species, paratype, UW 119920, 49.6 mm SL: A) Showing the bearded appearance of the opercular margins and chin, B) Showing the white patch resembling coralline algae posterior to the pectoral fin origin. Photos courtesy V. Chalias.

FIGURE 1. A) Histiophryne pogonius, new species, holotype UW 118820, 48.1 mm SL. Photo by R. Arnold.

FIGURE 4. 50 % majority rule tree generated in * BEAST for all described species of Histiophryne, generated from a dataset that included the nuclear recombination activating gene 2 (RAG 2) and mitochondrial 16 S and cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) genes.