Mendosoma Guinchenot

Ludt, William B., Burridge, Christopher P. & Chakrabarty, Prosanta, 2019, A taxonomic revision of Cheilodactylidae and Latridae (Centrarchiformes: Cirrhitoidei) using morphological and genomic characters, Zootaxa 4585 (1), pp. 121-141 : 132-133

Genus Mendosoma Guinchenot

Mendosoma Guinchenot, 1848: 212 [Type-species: Mendosoma lineata Guinchenot, 1848 by subsequent designation of Bleeker, 1876].

Etymology. Gender neuter. Derived from Venetian mendole (fish), and the Greek soma (body). Inclusive species. Mendosoma lineatum Guinchenot (type by monotypy) Diagnosis. Mendosoma is diagnosed from all other latrids by having a combination of the following

characters: dorsal-fin elements XXII–XXV, 23–27; anal-fin elements III, 17–21; pectoral-fin rays 16–19; vertebrae 42–46. Body elongate with a pointed snout and terminal mouth; mouth highly protrusible; eye moderate; no teeth on lower jaw; scales small and cycloid; supraneurals arranged 0/0/0/1+1/1+1/1 ( Fig. 2j ).

Habitat and distribution. Found throughout the temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere from Tasmania, southern Australia, New Zealand and southern Chile. Commonly found in tide pools and in the water column near rocky reefs to 22m ( Roberts 2015).

Comments. Distinguished from all other latrids by the unique supraneural arrangement with a single dorsal-fin spine articulating with the first dorsal pterygiophore, the elongate, tubular body, and the pointed, highly protrusible mouth. Feeds on zooplankton in the water column. Five species of Mendosoma have been described in the literature, but here we take the conservative approach of only recognizing a single species based on the detailed results of Gon & Heemstra (1987).

Material examined. M. lineatum , CSIRO H 2377-01 [n=1, Australia: Tasmania] , CSIRO T 1119 [n=1, Australia: Tasmania: Maria Island ], NVM A19874 [n=1, Australia], NVM A11395 [n=1, Australia] .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Radiographs highlighting the arrangement of supraneurals and neural spines that can differentiate the Cheilodactylidae and Latridae. All genera of these two families are shown. a) Cheilodactylus fasciatus ROM 50995, b) Goniistius plessisi USNM 226553, c) ‘Goniistius’ brachydactylus USNM 153508, d) ‘Goniistius’ fuscus CAS 20803, e) ‘Goniistius’ nigripes YPM 5957, f) Nemadactylus macropterus USNM 39674, g) Latris lineata USNM 176770, h) Latridopsis forsteri USMN 84370, i) Dactylophora nigricans USNM 440480, j) Mendosoma lineatum CSIRO 1119. All scale bars represent 5mm.