Nuchequula nuchalis ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1845 )

Miki, Ryohei, Murase, Atsunobu & Wada, Masaaki, 2018, A checklist of ponyfishes (Teleostei, Leiognathidae) from Miyazaki Prefecture, east coast of Kyushu, southern Japan, with range extensions of three tropical species, Check List 14 (1), pp. 243-255 : 249

Nuchequula nuchalis ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) :

Figure 3E, F

Equula nuchalis Temminck and Schlegel 1845: 126 .

Leiognathus nuchalis — Eguchi et al. 2008: 19.

Nuchequula nuchalis — Chakrabarty and Sparks 2007: 18 ; Kimura et al. 2008b: 22; Senou 2013: 902; Fujiwara and Motomura 2016: 197.

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by the following combination of characters: mouth protruding downwards; small slender teeth on both jaws; anterior dorsolateral surface of body completely naked; black blotch on nape ( Senou 2013).

Distribution. Nuchequula nuchalis is known from Japan, the western and southern coasts of Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and the coast of China. In Japanese waters, this species is known from the western coast of Aomori Prefecture to the southern part of the western coast of Kyushu (Sea of Japan coast), the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture to the southern part of eastern coast of Kyushu, Seto Inland Sea, and Okinawa Island (Pacific coast) ( Senou 2013).

Remarks. The record of Nuchequula nuchalis in this study is based on 8 specimens (40.8–116.4 mm SL) from Kadogawa Bay in November and December. However, this species is caught frequently with shallow set nets (<10 m depth) for commercial purposes in the bay (author. Wada, pers. comm.). In addition, our survey did not record this species with the other deeper set nets, although we collected it from estuaries in Miyazaki Prefecture out of the survey period (KPM-NI 41550–41553, Kita-gawa river, northern part of Miyazaki Prefecture; KPM-NI 41888–41891, Hitotsuse-gawa river and Tondahama Lagoon, central Miyazaki Prefecture). These records indicate that N. nuchalis inhabits estuaries and shallow areas of the coasts of Miyazaki Prefecture.