Trachinocephalus gauguini Polanco, Acero & Betancur, 2016

Wang, Shih-Yu, Chen, Jhen-Nien, Russell, Barry C. & Chen, Wei-Jen, 2018, First record of Gauguin's blunt-nose lizardfish, Trachinocephalus gauguini Polanco, Acero & Betancur 2016 (Teleostei: Synodontidae) outside the Marquesas Archipelago, Zootaxa 4476 (1), pp. 151-156 : 152

Trachinocephalus gauguini Polanco, Acero & Betancur, 2016 , new record

Figure 1A–B ; Table 1–2

Material examined. NTUM 11085 (tissue voucher: PNG 3127) and NTUM 11212 (tissue voucher: PNG 3163) . Both specimens were collected from mid-shelf areas around 20 km west of Kavieng , New Ireland Province , Papua New Guinea ( Fig. 2 ) on September 2, 2014 by R/V ALIS from station CP4455, 2° 23.4' S, 150° 37' E, 60–72m, and station CP4456 , 2°35' S, 150°40' E, 134–144m, respectively (campaign: KAVIENG 2014).

Diagnosis. Morphometric data and meristic data for the two Papua New Guinea specimens are as in Table 1 and 2 respectively. The morphological characteristics fit within the range of the identification key, description of body color pattern, and photographs provided in Polanco et al. (2016): L Sn 6.7–10.0% of HL, L Sn 12.6–18.9% of D B, L Sn 31.6–51.7% of D E, W I 4.0–6.7% of HL; pectoral fin rays 11, anal fin rays 14–16; pectoral, caudal and anal fin yellow; dorsal fin dark yellow; four obvious yellow stripes along the body longitudinally, with several inconspicuous vertical bars across; an oval black spot above the dorsal border of the operculum, and a rather wide dark blotch below the eye (indistinct in NTUM 11212) ( Fig. 1A, B ). A blunter snout and broader dark blotch beneath the eye distinguish Trachinocephalus gauguini from other species of Trachinocephalus .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Three Trachinocephalus specimens collected from Papua New Guinean waters. (A) T. gauguini, NTUM 11085, SL = 51.3 mm (B) T. gauguini, NTUM 11212, SL = 76.4 mm (C) T. trachinus, NTUM 11201, SL = 40.6 mm. (Photographed by J.-N. Chen).

FIGURE 2. Distribution records of Trachinocephalus gauguini. Circle, occurrence described in Polanco et al. (2016); triangle, new record from Papua New Guinea (this study).