Epigonus lenimen (Whitley, 1935)

Okamoto, Makoto & Gon, Ofer, 2018, A review of the deepwater cardinalfish genus Epigonus (Perciformes: Epigonidae) of the Western Indian Ocean, with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4382 (2), pp. 261-291 : 276-277

Epigonus lenimen (Whitley, 1935)

(English name: Bigeye Deepsea Cardinalfish) ( Figs. 3 , 12 ; Tables 1, 2)

Scepterias lenimen Whitley, 1935: 230 (in part, original description; type locality: Great Australian Bight; holotype: AMS E.3368); Whitley, 1940: 420, fig. 33 (list and figure, Australia); Whitley, 1968: 56 (in part, list, New Zealand).

Epigonus lenimen Scott, 1962: 191 , fig. 1 (Australia); Mayer, 1974: 193, fig. 22 (description, Australia and New Zealand); Parin & Abramov, 1986b: 187 (description, New Zealand); Mochizuki, 1990: 259 (description, New Zealand); Allen & Cross, 1989: 553 (list, Australia); Paulin et al., 1989: 180 (key, New Zealand); Abramov, 1992: 100 (key); Gomon et al., 1994: 563 (brief description and photograph, Australia); Hutchins, 2001: 32 (list, Western Australia); Hoese et al., 2006: 1114 (list, Australia); Okamoto & Fukui, 2011: 391 (key); Okamoto, 2012: 252 (key); Stewart & Gon, 2015: 1222 (key and description, New Zealand).

Material examined. MNHN 1989-1121 , 2 specimens, 107.7–108.6 mm SL, 38°48.0 S, 77°34.1 E, off Saint-Paul , South Indian Ocean, 350–412 m depth, 18 July 1986 ; SAIAB 82133 , 105.0 mm SL, 21°36.1 S, 35°42.1 E, off Mozambique, 599–601 m, 17 October 2007 .

Diagnosis. Dorsal-fin rays VII-I, 9; pectoral-fin rays 16–18; total gill rakers 28–33; vertebrae 11 + 14; pyloric caeca 6–9; pored lateral-line scales 46–49 + 3–5; scales below lateral line 9–10; pungent opercular spine present; blunt maxillary mustache-like processes present; ribs on last abdominal vertebra present; tongue toothless; no tubercle or two nub-like structures on symphysis of lower jaw; body depth 23.8–28.1% SL; orbital diameter 14.1– 17.7 % SL; lower-jaw length 14.9–16.4% SL.

Measurements (% SL); counts are given in Table 1. Head length 34.6–36.0; head width 16.9–18.6; head height 16.9–18.2; body depth 23.8–24.3; body width 14.2–15.2; caudal-peduncle depth 9.4–10.3; caudal-peduncle length 25.8–28.1; orbital diameter 15.7–16.4; interorbital width 9.7–9.8; postorbital length 10.2–13.3; upper-jaw length 15.2–15.4; lower-jaw length 15.7–16.2; snout length 7.2–8.3; pre-first dorsal-fin length 36.9–38.9; presecond dorsal-fin length 57.8–58.8; pre-pectoral-fin length 34.1–34.5; pre-pelvic-fin length 38.8–39.0; pre-anus length 59.1–59.6; pre-anal-fin length 66.3–66.8; first spine length on first dorsal fin 3.1; second spine length on first dorsal fin 16.1–17.4; third spine length on first dorsal fin 16.6–18.1; second dorsal-fin spine length 16.7–17.7; first anal-fin spine length 4.4–5.0; second anal-fin spine length 19.3–19.7; pelvic-fin spine length 17.6–17.7; first dorsal-fin base length 11.9–13.5; second dorsal-fin base length 10.5–11.8; anal-fin base length 9.8–12.1; pectoralfin length 20.5–20.9; pelvic-fin length 20.7–22.2.

Distribution. Western South Indian Ocean (Parin & Abramov 1986b; Abramov 1992); New Zealand ( Mayer 1974; Paulin et al. 1989; Mochizuki 1990; Stewart & Gon 2015); southern Australia ( Mayer 1974; Hutchins 2001; Hoese et al. 2006), at 300–1050 m depth.

Comparisons and Remarks. Epigonus lenimen belongs to the E. constanciae group by having a pungent opercular spine (Okamoto 2012). This species is similar to E. robustus in having 11 + 14 vertebrae; however, it differs from E. robustus in orbital diameter longer than postorbital length ( Fig. 12 ) (vs. orbital diameter shorter than postorbital length in E. robustus ) and in lacking two nub-like structures on the symphysis of lower jaw (vs. present in E. robustus ). The other 5 species of the group in the Western Indian Ocean, E. bispinosus , E. idai , E. marimonticolus , E. pectinifer and E. waltersensis , have 10 + 15 vertebrae (vs. 11 + 14 in E. lenimen ).

Epigonus lenimen is originally described based on holotype and nine paratypes from Australia (Whitley 1935).

According to a re-examination of Whitley’s type series by Mayer (1974), the paratypes were identified as E. denticulatus in his revision of the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution of seven species of the Epigonus constanciae group inthe Western Indian Ocean.

FIGURE 12. Epigonus lenimen, MNHN 1989-1121, 1 of 2 specimens, 108.6 mm SL.