Chancho piraña

description

Diagnostic characters: Based on examined specimen (in brackets) and literature data (Mead, 1972; Thompson & Russell, 1996; Thompson, 2003, 2008; McEachran & Fechhelm, 2005; Haedrich, 1986; Santos et al., 1997). Body compressed, rather fusiform compared to that of most Bramidae, the greatest depth 36 – 45 % (37 %) of standard length; dorsal profile of head almost straight, the forehead slightly concave; snout pointed; precaudal grooves well developed; strong, rather high and well developed lateral keel on the caudal peduncle, a character that distinguish this species from all other known species of the family; dorsal fin rays 30 – 32 (31); anal fin rays 19 – 23 (19); pectoral fin extends to anterior anal fin rays, with 19 – 22 (19) rays; horizontal series of scales 41 – 48 (48), to origin of peduncle’s keel; gill rakers, 1 – 3 + 7 – 8 (2 + 7), not counting rudiments; gill filaments more than three times length of rakers; scales on sides of body cycloid and smooth, spines present only in young; posterior profile of upper lobe of the caudal fin falcate, the lower somewhat protruding medially. Color varies from almost black to dark brown with bronze to silver sheen, belly somewhat ligh

First report of rare pomfrets (Teleostei: Bramidae) from Brazilian waters, with a key to Western Atlantic species

distribution

Distribution: Central Pacific: Hawaii. Eastern Pacific: Costa Rica to Peru. Eastern Atlantic: off West Africa, Azores and Madeira Islands. Western Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad and Bahia in Brazil. The present paper extends the known occurrence of the keeltail pomfret southwards for about 3,500 kilometers. Proposed Brazilian name: “ Lira ” (= lyre) after the tail shape, and used by Bahia’s artisan fishermen that caught this fish. Finally, shortly before the submission of this work a third uncommon bramid was captured at the very same site off Bahia: an adult male of the bigscale pomfret, Taractichthys longipinnis, hooked in about 200 meters, 1,300 meters from the bottom, also preserved in the PROJETO TAMAR collection. To our knowledge this is the first report of an adult of this species in Southwestern Atlantic waters. It differs from its only congener, Taractichthys steindachneri (Döderlein, 1883), from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, by the higher number of scales in horizontal series (more than 38, usually 42 – 45 against 38 or fewer in T. steindachneri), as well as by minor morphometric meristic features (Mead, 1972; Haedrich, 1986; Smith, 1986; Thompson & Russell, 1996).

First report of rare pomfrets (Teleostei: Bramidae) from Brazilian waters, with a key to Western Atlantic species

biology_ecology

Biology. The specimen was a male at the II stage of gonadal maturity according to the scale proposed by Holden & Raitt (1974). The observation that the present specimen, like the individual reported by Fiorentino et al. (2016), was in a developing (maturing) gonadal stage is noteworthy, although it must be interpreted with caution given the extremely limited number of records available from the Mediterranean Sea. In both cases, the gonads showed clear signs of active development but no evidence of full sexual maturity or imminent spawning. This may simply reflect the reproductive condition of the individuals at the time of capture rather than indicating any broader reproductive pattern within the basin.

On a record of Taractes rubescens (Teleostei: Scombriformes: Bramidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

description

Description. Counts and proportional measurements are given in Tables 1 and 2. Body deep, compressed laterally; maximum body depth 37.9 % SL; dorsal profile of head almost straight; snout pointed; mouth extremely oblique and lower jaw greatly projecting; pectoral- fin origin just above the pelvic fin, its tip extending beyond dorsal and anal-fin mid-length; caudal fin falcate with upper lobe longer than lower lobe; lateral line absent; precaudal grooves well developed; strong lateral keel made of enlarged fused scales on each side of caudal peduncle (Fig. 2 c); dorsal-fin rays 30; anal-fin rays 22; pectoral-fin rays 20; lateral line scales 47, extending to origin of caudal peduncle’s keel; first gill arch with 1 (developed) + 4 (rudimentary) rakers on upper limb and 7 (developed) + 4 (rudimentary) rakers on lower limb. Gill filaments more than three times length of rakers; scales on sides of body cycloid and smooth; both jaws with numerous sharp, conical teeth of moderate size, arranged irregularly in multiple series; a single row of small palatine teeth. Colouration. Head, body and fins dark brown with shiny appearance; pectoral fins translucent on the rear underside; caudal fin w

On a record of Taractes rubescens (Teleostei: Scombriformes: Bramidae) from the Mediterranean Sea