Kuronezumia dara (Gilbert and Hubbs, 1916)

Iwamoto, Tomio, Nakayama, Naohide, Shao, Kwang-Tsao & Table, Hsuan-Ching Ho, 2015, Synopsis of the Grenadier Fishes (Gadiformes; Teleostei) of Taiwan, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 62 (3), pp. 31-126 : 82-83

Kuronezumia dara (Gilbert and Hubbs, 1916)

Figure 14 .

Lionurus darus Gilbert and Hubbs, 1916:197–199 , pl. 10, fig. 1 (holotype, 132 mm TL, USNM 76867 ; Suruga Gulf , Japan, 35°06ʹN, 138°40ʹ10ʺE, 197 fm [360 m]).

Nezumia darus : Okamura, 1970:101–102 (description from Gilbert and Hubbs, 1916).— Okamura in Okamura et al., 1982:161, 349, fig. 95 (p. 160) (2 spec., 130–144 mm TL; Tosa Bay, 355–605 m).— Okamura in Masuda et al., 1984:95, fig. 81–J (compiled).— Okamura in Okamura and Kitajima, 1984:217, 363, fig. 153 (p. 216) (2 spec., 220–318 mm TL; East China Sea [Okinawa Trough], 560–692 m).— Nakabo, 2002:424 (compiled).

Kuronezumia darus : Shao et al., 2008: table 2 (1 spec., Taiwan [ SWT], 280–452 m; first record from Taiwan) .

Kuronezumia dara : Shcherbachev et al., 1992:100–101 (mentioned, no additional specimens).

MATERIAL EXAMINED (1 spec.).— SWT: ASIZP 65514 (1, 482 TL), CD 140, 280– 452 m. Other specimens: Japan: BSKU 27666 (1, 49.8 HL, 255+ TL), 26326 (1, 34.6 HL, 209+ TL), 44828 (1, 42.4 HL, 218+ TL), 45036 (60.0 HL, 376+ TL); HUMZ uncat. (1, 22.0 HL, 138+ TL) .

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES.— 1D II, 9–10; P i21–i23; V 10–12, usually11; GR-I (outer/inner) 0+(1–8) / 2+(8–9), GR-II 1+(7–8) / 1+(7–9); scale rows below 1D origin 12–15, below 2D origin 10.5–11.0; below mid-base 1D 8.5–10; over distance equal to pre-1D 35–42. Snout 24–30% HL; preoral length 15–19%; internasal width 18–19; orbit 25–33%; interorbital 24–25; postorbital length 44–49%; orbit to angle of preopercle 36–42%; upper jaw 30–35%; barbel 20–27%; length outer gill slit 16–20%; greatest body depth 85–97%; pre-A length 139–152%; isthmus to A 57–79%; 1D height 97–98% (3 spec.); 1D base length 28–31; 1D-2D interspace 23–41%; length outer V ray 68–87%. Head compressed, much deeper than wide; snout low, bluntly rounded, scarcely protruding beyond large mouth, lacking stout spinous tubercle at tip; upper jaw extends posteriorly about to below mid-orbit. Barbel moderately long, slender, about 0.5–0.8 of orbit. Scales small, densely covered with slender, conical spinules giving velvety feel to body surfaces; scale ridges on head not especially developed, head contours smoothly rounded. Color medium brown to swarthy, juveniles blackish overall, fins dark (usually black). A moderately large species, probably attaining about 500 mm TL; the current Taiwan specimen is the largest recorded.

DISTRIBUTION.— Pacific coast of s. Japan in 360–692 m and SCS off Taiwan in 280–452 m.

REMARKS.— Shao et al. (2008) first recorded the species from Taiwan and the South China Sea based on the ASIZP specimen. Kuronezumia dara is quite similar in many respects to K. bubonis Iwamoto, 1974 , which has been recorded from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, including the South China Sea off Vietnam ( Shcherbachev et al. 1992:99–100). A notable difference is the tubercular swelling housing the light organ in K. bubonis , which is absent in K. dara .

The species-group name darus has been used by most Japanese authors even after the name had been transferred to the genus Kuronezumia by Shcherbachev et al. (1992), to which transfer those Japanese authors agree. Gilbert and Hubbs (1916) originally described the species in the masculine genus Lionurus , taking the Japanese term dara and latinizing it to darus to agree in gender with the genus name. When the specific name was combined with the feminine genus Kuronezumia , under Article 31.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature the “species-group name, if it is or ends in a Latin or latinized adjective or participle in the nominative singular, must agree in gender with the generic name with which it is at any time combined” ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999:38). Thus, the masculine species-group name darus must be changed to the feminine dara .

Figures

FIGURE 14. Xuronezumia dara (Gilbert and Hubbs, 1916). ASIZP 65514, 482 mm TL. A. lateral view. B. dorsal view.