Ariosoma shiroanago (Asano, 1958)

Smith, David G., Ho, Hsuan-Ching, Huang, Jian-Fu & Chang, Yong-Hsu, 2018, The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4454 (1), pp. 84-106 : 103

Ariosoma shiroanago (Asano, 1958)

WHITE SHORT-TAIL CONgER ; 銀錐體糯鰻

FIgS. 9D , 12 ; TAbLE 3

Alloconger shiroanago shiroanago ASaNO, 1958:193 (TyPE LOcaLITy: Off OWaSHI, MIE PrEfEcTurE, JaPaN).

Ariosoma shiroanago (ASaNO, 1958) : SmITH, 1989:495. HO et al., 2015a: TabLE 3. HO et al., 2015b:144.

Material examined. 2 SPEcIMENS, 294‒324 MM. NMMB-P 17984 (1, 294), DAxI, 12 NOV. 2012. NMMB-P23978 (1, 324), KE-Tzu-LIAO, KAOHSIuNg, 21 NOV. 2016 .

Diagnosis. BODY AND HEAD PALE YELLOWISH TO LIgHT bROWN, WITH NARROW bLAck MARgINS ON VERTIcAL fINS; SNOuT RELATIVELY bLuNT; VOMERINE TEETH IN A LONg bAND, AbOuT HALf Of LENgTH Of MAxILLARY TEETH.; PREANAL VERTEbRAE 58‒59, PREcAuDAL VERTEbRAE 82‒83, TOTAL VERTEbRAE 161‒162; AND PREANAL LATERAL-LINE PORES 59 AND TOTAL LATERAL-LINE PORES 151‒158

Description. BODY RELATIVELY SLENDER, ANuS SLIgHTLY bEfORE MIDLENgTH, DORSAL-fIN ORIgIN WELL bEfORE gILL OPENINg. JAWS MODERATELY LONg, uPPER jAW PROjEcTINg SLIgHTLY bEYOND TIP Of LOWER jAW, INTERMAxILLARY TEETH PARTLY cONcEALED WHEN MOuTH cLOSED. EYE WELL DEVELOPED, MIDDLE Of EYE OVER RIcTuS. SNOuT RELATIVELY LONg, bLuNT DISTALLY.

TEETH SMALL, cONIcAL, MuLTISERIAL. MAxILLARY AND INTERMAxILLARY TEETH cONTINuOuS. VOMERINE TEETH SHARP ANTERIORLY, fOLLOWED bY LARgE AND STOuT TEETH, fORMINg A NARROW ELONgATE PATcH ENDINg bEHIND MIDPOINT Of MAxILLARY TOOTH PATcH.

BODY uNIfORMLY WHITISH OR YELLOWISH gRAY, SLIgHTLY PALER VENTRALLY, DORSAL AND ANAL fINS WITH A VERY THIN bLAck MARgIN. HEAD YELLOWISH bROWN WITHOuT ANY cLEAR bAND.

Remarks. Ariosoma shiroanago IS MOST SIMILAR TO A. majus IN HAVINg NARROW bLAck MARgINS ON VERTIcAL fINS, LIgHTER cOLORED bODY AND bLuNT SNOuT. IT cAN bE SEPARATED fROM A. majus IN HAVINg 58‒59 PREANAL VERTEbRAE (VS. 51‒55), 161‒162 TOTAL VERTEbRAE (VS. 140‒149), AND TOTAL LATERAL-LINE PORES (151‒158 VS. 132‒147).

Figures

FIGURE 9. UPPEr-jaW TEETH Of Ariosoma SPEcIES. A. A. majus. B. A. meeki. C. A. megalops, NMMB-P12306. D. A. shiroanago, NMMB-P17984. NOT TO ScaLE.

FIGURE 12. Ariosoma shiroanago (ASaNO, 1958), NMMB-P23978, 324 mm TL.