Antennarius caudimaculatus
Weber, 1913: 562
Lophiocharon sp.
A New Species of the Anglerfish Genus Lophiocharon Whitley (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae) from Australian Waters
Pietsch, Theodore W.
Records of the Australian Museum
2004
56
2
159
162
3W25V
Pietsch, 2004
Pietsch
2004
[263,544,1453,1477]
Actinopterygii
Antennariidae
Lophiocharon
Animalia
Lophiiformes
1
160
Chordata
species
hutchinsi
sp. nov.
Figs. 1–2, Plate 1
Antennarius caudimaculatus( nonRüppell). Weber, 1913: 562(misidentification, ZMA 116.513, Aru Islands). Lophiocharonsp.—Pietsch & Grobecker, 1987: 224, 231; fig. 91 ( five specimens, probably representing an undescribed species).
Type material. HOLOTYPE: WAMP.27673-002, 43 mm, James Price Point, 55 kmnorth of Broome, Western Australia, 17°26'S 122°10'E, rotenone, 31 July 1982. PARATYPES: AMSI.15557-283, 2 ( 47–49 mm), Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, 17°00'S 140°16'E; WAMP.24486, 33 mm, Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, July 1973; AMSI.34780-001, 14 mm, Lee Point, Darwin Country, Northern Territory, 12°20'S 130°53'E, SCUBA, 3.0 m, 11 July 1993; WAMP.31884-001, 31 mm, south of Bluff Point, Enderby Island, Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia, 20°40.9'S 116°33.2'E, box dredge on sandy mud, sponge, and seagrass, 9.0– 9.2 m, 23 July 1999; WAMP.28416-015, 2 ( 19–29 mm), Gantheaume Point, Broome, Western Australia, 17°58'S 122°10'E, rotenone, 2–5 m, 13 September 1982; ZMA 116.513, 18mm, anchorage off Jedan Island, Aru Islands, Indonesia, Weber, 1899.
Diagnosis. A member of the genus Lophiocharon, as recognized by Pietsch & Grobecker (1987), unique among its congeners in having a combination of character states that includes a reduced esca (scarcely, if at all differentiated from the illicium) and a relatively short illicium ( Fig. 1), covered from base to tip with small dermal spinules (Plate 1).
Description. Illicium with a single tiny distal filament; length of illicium 9.6–12.9% SL; length of second dorsalfin spine 14.4–15.8% SL; length of third dorsal-fin spine 19.7–23.4% SL; distance between bases of illicium and second dorsal-fin spine 6.5–7.6% SL; diameter of eye 5.2– 7.7% SL; dorsal rays 13; anal rays 7; pectoral rays 9. Plate 1. Lophiocharon hutchinsi n.sp., holotype, WAM P.27673-002, 43 mm, James Price Point, 55 kmnorth of Broome, Western Australia, 17°26'S 122°10'E, rotenone, 31 July 1982. Fig. 1. Relationship between illicial length and standard length for species of Lophiocharon: L. hutchinsi n.sp.( Δ), L. trisignatus( Richardson, 1844)( O), and L. lithinostomus(Jordan & Richardson, 1908) ( •). All known specimens in light-colour phase: cream, beige, light yellow-brown to brown overall; dorsal and lateral surfaces, including fins, everywhere covered with speckles and mottling of darker brown, especially dense on face around eye; basidorsal spot and light-coloured bar across base of caudal fin absent; illicium without banding; one or two dark circular spots on side of body above and/or slightly behind base of pectoral-fin lobe (similar to those found in other species of the genus, e.g., L. trisignatus; see Pietsch & Grobecker, 1987: 225, fig. 92); dark streak sometimes radiating out from eye; caudal ocelli faint, discernible only in largest known specimens (Plate 1). Fig. 2. Known distribution of Lophiocharon hutchinsi n.sp.( Δ), northern Australia and Aru Islands; and L. lithinostomus(Jordan & Richardson, 1908), North Borneo, Sulu Archipelago, and the Philippines ( •). A single symbol may indicate more than one capture. Additional description as given for the genus.
Etymology. Named for Barry Hutchins, Curator of Fishes, Western Australian Museum, Perth, for providing most of the material on which this new species is based, and for his many contributions to Australian ichthyology.
Distribution. All nine known specimens of L. hutchinsiwere taken in northern Australian and southern New Guinean waters: five specimensfrom Western Australia, at Exmouth Gulf, the Dampier Archipelago, and Broome; one from Northern Territory, at Lee Point, near Darwin; two from Queenslandin the Gulf of Carpentaria; and one from the Aru Islands in the Arafura Sea.
Comments. Lophiocharon hutchinsiis clearly distinguished from L. trisignatusin lacking a distinct esca and in having a shorter, spiny illicium (see Fig. 1). On the other hand, the only feature that separates it from L. lithinostomusis its considerably shorter illicium (9.6–12.9% SL vs. 21.6– 36.4% SL). Because all nine known specimens of L. hutchinsiare small (less than 50 mmSL) and all known individuals of L. lithinostomusare relatively large ( 54–91 mmSL), it might be argued that L. hutchinsisimply represents juvenile specimens of the latter. However, if this were true it would necessitate an extremely rapid ontogenetic increase in illicial length, the evidence for which is lacking in all other lophiiform fishes for which adequate material has been studied. It should be pointed out also that as presently understood L. lithinostomusand L. hutchinsiare allopatric: the former ranges from North Borneoto the SuluArchipelago and the Philippines, whereas the latter is known only from northern Australiaand the Aru Islands ( Fig. 2). The third known species of Lophiocharon, L. trisignatus, is sympatric with both its congeners, ranging from tropical Australiato the Philippines. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. I thank Jeff Leis (AMS) and Martin Gomon (Museum Victoria, Melbourne) for inviting me to take part in this project, and Mark McGrouther (AMS) and Barry Hutchins and Sue Morrison (WAM) for providing specimens and locality data.
1982-07-31
WAM
Western Australia
-17.433332
James Price Point
1279
122.166664
Broome
1
160
1
holotype
AMS
Queensland
-17.0
Gulf of Carpentaria
1280
140.26666
1
160
1
paratype
1973-07
WAM
Exmouth Gulf
Western Australia
1
160
1
paratype
AMS
Northern Territory
-12.333333
Lee Point
1293
130.88333
Darwin Country
1
160
1
paratype
[430,744,1886,1909]
1993-07-11
SCUBA
1
160
1
paratype
1999-07-23
WAM
Western Australia
9
-20.681667
Bluff Point
126
116.55334
Dampier Archipelago
1
160
1
paratype
1982-09-13
WAM
Western Australia
4
-17.966667
Gantheaume Point
1277
122.166664
Broome
1
160
1
paratype
ZMA
Weber
Indonesia
Jedan Island
Aru Islands
1
160
ZMA 116.513, 18
1
paratype
[348,1196,1275,1296]
1982-07-31
-17.433332
Broome
1279
122.166664
2
161
1
Western Australia