Sciadonus pedicellaris Garman, 1899

Nielsen, Jørgen G., Pogonoski, John J. & Appleyard, Sharon A., 2019, Aphyonid-clade species of Australia (Teleostei, Bythitidae) with four species new to Australian waters and a new species of Barathronus, Zootaxa 4564 (2), pp. 554-572 : 569

Sciadonus pedicellaris Garman, 1899

Table 1, Figs. 1 , 14

Sciadonus pedicellaris Garman, 1899: 172 (type locality Gulf of Panama).

Sciadonus kullenbergi Nybelin, 1957: 310 (type locality off the Azores).

Leucochlamys galatheae Nielsen, 1969: 75 (type locality Kermadec Trench, SW Pacific).

Sciadonus galatheae Nielsen & Møller, 2015: 736 (key), 738, fig. 99.2

Sciadonus pedicellaris: Nielsen 2018: 183 .

Material examined. (5 specimens, 66–116 mm SL) CSIRO H 8091-02 (GenBank Accession MH 491985 ), female, 88 mm SL , GAB, SA, 35°48.89’S, 132°01.27’E , RV Investigator , st. IN2017_C01/175, beam trawl, 3930–4250 m, 15 Apr. 2017 . CSIRO H 8092-02 (GenBank Accession MH 491984 ), female, 79 mm SL , GAB, SA, 35°42.95’S, 131°39.38’E , RV Investigator , st. IN2017_CO1/178, beam trawl, 3817–3950 m, 16 Apr. 2017 . CSIRO H 8099-01 (GenBank Accession MH 491986 ), female, 66 mm SL , GAB, SA, 34°45.89’S, 130°42.01’E , RV Investigator , st. IN2017_CO1/208, beam trawl, 1816–1870 m, 23 Apr. 2017 . NMV A 31819-001 , female, 116 mm SL, off Newcastle , NSW, 33°26.46’S, 152°42.12’E , RV Investigator , st. IN2017_VO3/065, beam trawl, 4173–4280 m, 30 May 2017 . CSIRO H 8125-01 (GenBank Accession MH 491988 ), male, 92+ mm SL, Hunter Commonwealth Marine Reserve , NSW, 32°08.28’S, 153°31.62’E , RV Investigator , st. IN2017_ V03 /078, beam trawl, 3980–4029 m, 4 June 2017.

Diagnosis. Sciadonus pedicellaris differs from the other four Sciadonus species by the following combination of characters: No distinct black spots dorsally and along midbody; pelvic fin length 1.0–2.2 % SL; dorsal fin rays 90–107; precaudal vertebrae 43–49; origin of anal fin below dorsal fin rays 44–56.

Size. Largest known specimen (126 mm SL) is a ripe female.

Distribution ( Fig. 1 ). Earlier known from 19 specimens caught in the Northeast Atlantic, Northeast Pacific, the Solomon Sea and off New Zealand at 1169–5440 m (Nielsen 2018) and now additionally five specimens from the GAB and off southern Qld caught at 1816–4280 m.

Remarks. The present five specimens are compared to 19 specimens from most oceans (Nielsen 2018) and Table 1 shows agreement in all the 21 characters mentioned.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Records of aphyonid-clade species in Australian waters including the non-Australian paratypes of Barathronus algrahami n. sp. Some symbols represent more than one specimen (Image © NASA, TerraMetrics, Google Earth).

FIGURE 14. Sciadonus pedicellaris, NMV A 31819-001, 116 mm SL (Image: CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection).