Epigonus pectinifer Mayer, 1974

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 : 280-282

Epigonus pectinifer Mayer, 1974

(New English name: Spiny-nosed Deepwater Cardinalfish) ( Figs. 3 , 16 ; Tables 1, 2)

Epigonus pectinifer Mayer, 1974: 186 , fig. 19 (original description; type locality: 12°01 N, 61°53.5 W, Caribbean west of Grenada, 378–450 m depth; holotype: USNM 207725); Mochizuki & Shirakihara, 1983: 205, fig. 5b (list and photograph, Japan); Mochizuki, 1984: 146, pl. 133-O (brief description and photograph, Japan); Machida, 1985: 482 (description and photograph, Okinawa Trough, Japan); Parin & Abramov, 1986b: 186 (description, Caribbean Sea, New Zealand, central North Pacific); Abramov, 1992: 99 (key); Mochizuki, 1997: 306 (brief description and photograph, Japan); Shinohara & Matsuura, 1997: 303 (list, Suruga Bay, Japan); Shinohara et al., 2001: 324 (Tosa Bay, Japan); Hayashi, 2002: 781 (key, Japan); Moore et al., 2003: 225, fig. 39 (record, near Norfolk, Baltimore, and Hudson canyons, off the New England region); Gon, 2003: 1393 (key, western Central Atlantic); Shinohara et al., 2005: 432 (list, Ryukyu Islands, Japan); Mundy, 2005: 359 (list, Emperor Seamounts); McEachran & Fechhelm, 2005: 242 (Gulf of Mexico); Okamoto & Fukui, 2011: 391 (key); Okamoto, 2012: 252 (key); Hayashi, 2013: 865 (key, Japan); Stewart & Gon, 2015: 1219 (key, New Zealand).

Epigonus robustus (not of Barnard, 1927): Kuroda, 1951: 331 (list, Suruga Bay, Japan); Kamohara, 1964: 39 (list, Tosa Bay, Japan).

Material examined. SAIAB 86380 , 3 specimens, 138.4–152.6 mm SL, 11°02.32 S, 50°35.29 E, off northern Madagascar, western South Indian Ocean, 331–339 m depth, 27 September 2008 ; SAIAB 98893 , 7 specimens, 50.8–64.7 mm SL, 12°41.43 S, 40°40.1 E, Comoro Is., western South Indian Ocean, 292 m depth, 23 November 2007 ; SAIAB 193895 , 4 specimens, 80.0– 82.3 mm SL, 12°48.51 S, 40°45.69 E, off northern Mozambique, western South West Indian Ocean, 420–536 m depth, 15 February 1992 .

Diagnosis. Dorsal-fin rays VII-I, 9; pectoral-fin rays 15–18; total gill rakers 26–30; vertebrae 10 + 15; pyloric caeca 5–7; pored lateral-line scales 45–51 + 3–5; pungent opercular spine present; pointed maxillary mustache-like processes present; ribs on last abdominal vertebra present; slender tooth patch present on posterior half of tongue (rarely absent); pectoral fin not reaching a vertical line from anus.

Measurements (% SL); counts are given in Table 1. Head length 33.3–36.1; head width 13.1–18.0; head height 16.1–17.9; body depth 18.7–24.3; body width 10.8–15.1; caudal-peduncle depth 8.9–10.5; caudal-peduncle length 24.5–30.6; orbital diameter 12.7–14.8; interorbital width 8.1–9.2; postorbital length 10.2–14.0; upper-jaw length 14.3–15.9; lower-jaw length 14.7–17.1; snout length 7.6–9.6; pre-first dorsal-fin length 36.9–40.1; presecond dorsal-fin length 56.1–59.8; pre-pectoral-fin length 32.9–37.2; pre-pelvic-fin length 36.4–39.0; pre-anus length 53.9–59.1; pre-anal-fin length 62.2–67.5; first spine length on first dorsal fin 1.8–3.0; second spine length on first dorsal fin 11.8–15.1; third spine length on first dorsal fin 13.0–16.5; second dorsal-fin spine length 10.7– 13.2; first anal-fin spine length 2.6–3.5; second anal-fin spine length 11.8–13.7; pelvic-fin spine length 12.2–14.1; first dorsal-fin base length 10.6–12.3; second dorsal-fin base length 9.8–11.1; anal-fin base length 8.8–10.4; pectoral-fin length 16.3–19.7; pelvic-fin length 15.2–18.4.

Distribution. Western South Indian Ocean (present study); Gulf of Mexico ( Mayer 1974; McEachran & Fechhelm 2005); Caribbean Sea ( Mayer 1974); Tasman Sea, Australia and New Zealand (Parin & Abramov 1986b; Abramov 1992; Okamoto 2012; Stewart & Gon 2015); Emperor Seamounts (Parin & Abramov 1986b; Abramov 1992; Mundy 2005); Japan ( Machida 1985; Hayashi 2013), at 99–750 m depth.

Comparisons and Remarks. Epigonus pectinifer belongs to the E. constanciae group by having a pungent opercular spine (Okamoto 2012). Besides E. pectinifer ( Fig. 16A ), 6 species of this species group, including the two new species described in the present study, are distributed in the Western Indian Ocean: E. bispinosus ; E. idai ; E. lenimen ; E. marimonticolus ; E. robustus ; and E. waltersensis . Epigonus pectinifer can be distinguished from these species in having a slender tooth patch on the posterior half of tongue (rarely absent). In addition, E. pectinifer differs in having a sharp-pointed maxillary mustache-like processes ( Fig. 16B ) (vs. absent in E. bispinosus , E. idai , E. marimonticolus , and E. waltersensis ) and 10 + 15 vertebrae (vs. 11 + 14 in E. lenimen and E. robustus ). In a previous study of the E. constanciae group by Okamoto (2012: 251) erroneously described the dentition of the tongue of E. pectinifer as “lingual teeth absent” in the key to the species of the group.

We examined 14 specimens of E. pectinifer from the Western South Indian Ocean deposited at SAIAB in this study. These specimens represent the first confirmed records of E. pectinifer from the Indian Ocean.

Figures

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

FIGURE 16. Epigonus pectinifer. A: SAIAB 86380, 1 of 3 specimens, 152.6 mm SL; B: dorsal view of snout of SAIAB 193895, 1 of 4 specimens, 80.0 mm SL (arrows show the maxillary mustache-like processes).