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