Ogcocephalus darwini Hubbs, 1958

Briones-Mendoza, Jesus, Mendoza-Nieto, Klever, Alio, Jose, Munoz-Cedeno, Erick, Garcia-Zambrano, Marcela & Flores-Bailon, Joshue, 2022, New finding and description of the Galapagos batfish, Ogcocephalus darwini (Actinopterygii: Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), in marine waters of Manabi, Ecuador, Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 52 (3), pp. 223-227 : 223

Ogcocephalus darwini Hubbs, 1958

English common name: Galapagos batfish Spanish common names: pez murciélago de las Galápagos, pez murciélago de labios rojos. Figs 2 , 3

Description.

Head depressed, raised above disc; disk triangular; snout pointed, with horn-like rostrum projecting well in front of eyes; horn with few short hairs; fish-lure with 3 fleshy tips, in small cavity below horn; spine of lower rear corner of operculum blunt, and poorly developed; gill rakers oval plates covered with small teeth; eyes on sides of head; gill opening high, above pectoral base; pectoral and pelvic fins arm-like; pectorals completely separated from body; small dorsal and anal fins on tail; skin with few projecting small bony plates; flank without fringe of hairs; belly completely covered with bony, pointed scales; under tail densely covered with small spines, and sometimes few conical spines on medial line. Light brown to grayish above, white below; snout and horn dark brown to reddish brown; bright red lips; dark brown stripe (sometimes discontinuous) from top of head to base of tail fin on each side of body. Meristic characters shown in Table 1 .

Remarks.

The total weight of the studied specimen was 278.4 g while its total length reached 26 cm. The morphometric characteristics are shown in Table 2 and Fig. 2A , 2B , 2C . After evisceration, it was determined that it was a mature female in stage III. The liver weighed 21.4 g and the gonads 9.7 g. The stomach had fish remains of Opisthonema spp., most probably from the bait used in the fishery. The specimen still had the hook attached to the mouth. There were numerous parasitic Nematoda inside the intestine, and in the coelomic cavity near the liver and gonads; no parasites were observed in the gills, mouth, or external surface of the body.

The sagitta otoliths measured 5.69 × 3.44 mm (Fig. 3 ). The shape of the otoliths was oval, with an irregular dorsal margin and crinated ventral margin. The acoustic groove was heterosulcoidal, in supramedial position. Ostium, funnel-shaped, larger than cauda. Cauda, tubular, slightly curved. The ridges run the entire cauda. Anterior side blunt, with rostrum prominent and round shape; anti-rostrum, small and pointed. There were at least 17 sets of hyaline and opaque rings counted in the sagitta otoliths, which may suggest that the specimen was 17 years.

Figures

Figure 2. Lateral (a), dorsal (b) and ventral (c) view of the individual of Ogcocephalus darwini captured off the coast of the fishing cove Las Pinas, Ecuador, with its respective morphometric measurements.

Figure 3. Description of the internal face of the right sagittal otolith of the specimen Ogcocephalus darwini landed in the artisanal fishing cove Las Pinas, Ecuador.