Apogonichthys macrophthalmus Bleeker, 1860

Russell, Barry C., Fraser, Thomas H. & Larson, Helen K., 2010, Castelnau’S Collection Of Singapore Fishes Described By Pieter Bleeker, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 58 (1), pp. 93-102 : 97

Apogonichthys macrophthalmus Bleeker, 1860

Castelnau’s painting of Apogonichthys macrophthalmus Bleeker, 1860c , No. 163 ( Fig. 12 ) is striking with the large eye, reddish stripes and dark edges to the truncated or rounded caudal fin. Bleeker did not alter his descriptions significantly from the original description (1860c), the revision (1874) or the “Atlas” (1876). His comments added little information. None of the known cardinalfish in Apogonichthys , Foa , Fowleria , Neamia , the Apogon taeniatus complex or the Apogon poecilopterus complex has any stripes. We assume that the caudal fin was probably emarginate, not deeply forked.

There are several species of striped cardinalfish which have some similarity in stripes to Castelnau’s painting: Apogon compressus , Apogon kalosoma and Apogon brevicaudatus . However, none has a good fit to the painting. Two species, Apogon kalosoma and Apogon brevicaudatus , have convex second dorsal and anal fins. The fin markings of Apogon brevicaudatus and the restricted distribution of this species (Kuiter & Kozawa, 2001) make it an improbable candidate. There are more narrow stripes present on the body of Apogon kalosoma than depicted in the painting, but dark edges on the caudal fin shown in the painting may be present on this species. The body stripes of Apogon compressus are more consistent with the painting. This species has six first dorsal spines and nine rays in the anal fin and a relatively deeper body. The painting depicts a fish with relatively short first dorsal fin and a relatively large eye, which could be consistent with Apogon compressus . However, Apogon compressus has a slightly concave anal fin with a longer base, not seen in the painting.

Both Apogon compressus and A. kalosoma have been collected at Singapore. We believe the species that Castelnau drew was a specimen of Apogon compressus . Specimens of Apogon compressus has been easily identified by ichthyologists since it was described by Smith & Radcliffe in Radcliffe (1911). There have been no subsequent synonyms. It seems unusual that no one other than Bleeker described this species from the West Pacific prior to 1911. Bleeker’s name should be considered as unavailable because macrophthalmus (nomen oblitum) has never been used as a valid name and the clear identity of compressus (nomen protectum) to the present in literature (see Eschmeyer, et al. 2009 for a partial list), books and electronic media.

Figures

Figs. 10–17. Figures 10, 11: dried mounted specimens in the collection of the Zoological Museum of the University of Liège, Beligium (ZMUL), catalogue numbers 2378a and 2378b. Figures 12–17: Castlenau’s paintings, numbers 163, 171, 482, 483, 625 and 193, respectively.