Ariosoma meeki

description

Description. BODY STOuT, ANuS NEAR MIDLENgTH, DORSAL-fIN ORIgIN WELL bEfORE gILL OPENINg. JAWS SMALL, uPPER jAW PROjEcTINg SLIgHTLY bEYOND TIP Of LOWER jAW, INTERMAxILLARY TEETH PARTLY cONcEALED WHEN MOuTH cLOSED. EYE WELL DEVELOPED, MIDDLE Of EYE OVER RIcTuS. SNOuT bLuNT AND SHORT. HEAD PORES SMALL. SO cANAL WITH 4 PORES; THE fIRST (ETHMOIDAL PORE) VERY SMALL, ON VENTRAL SIDE Of TIP Of SNOuT, juST bEfORE LIP; THE SEcOND SMALL AND IMMEDIATELY IN fRONT Of AND AbOVE ANTERIOR NOSTRIL; THE THIRD ON DORSAL SuRfAcE Of SNOuT AbOVE ANTERIOR NOSTRIL; fOuRTH AbOVE AND SLIgHTLY bEHIND POSTERIOR NOSTRIL AT AbOuT MID-EYE LEVEL; fIfTH AND SIxTH AbSENT. IO cANAL WITH 5 OR 6 PORES; THE fIRST RIgHT bEHIND ANTERIOR NOSTRIL; SEcOND ON uPPER LIP AbOVE fLANgE, bELOW OR SLIgHTLY bEHIND POSTERIOR NOSTRIL; THIRD bELOW ANTERIOR MARgIN Of EYE; fOuRTH AbOVE RIcTuS SLIgHTLY bEHIND MIDDLE Of EYE; fIfTH bEHIND RIcTuS AT LEVEL Of POSTERIOR MARgIN Of EYE; 0 OR 1 IN AScENDINg bRANcH Of cANAL bEHIND EYE. POM PORES 10; 7 IN MANDIbuLAR SEcTION, INcLuDINg 1 bEHIND RIcTuS; 3 IN PREOPERcuLAR SEcTION, IN A LONgITuDINAL ROW. NO ST PORE. TEETH SMALL, cONIcAL, MuLTISERIAL; MAxILLARY AND INTERMAxILLARY TEETH cONTINuOuS; INTE

The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species

description

FIgS. 9 B, 10; TAbLE 2 Congrellus meeki Jordan & Snyder, 1900: 347 (type locality: Tokyo Bay, Japan). Ariosoma meeki (Jordan & Snyder, 1900): Chen, 2004: 31. Shao et al., 2008: 239. Ho et al., 2015 a: table 3. Ho et al., 2015 b: 144.

The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species

diagnosis

Diagnosis. ANuS NEAR MIDLENgTH. HEAD PORES REDucED IN SIzE AND NuMbER: INTERORbITAL, POSTORbITAL, AND SuPRATEMPORAL PORES AbSENT. TWO bLAck PATcHES AT POSTERIOR MARgIN Of EYE. DORSAL-fIN ORIgIN AbOVE OR SLIgHTLY IN fRONT Of PEcTORAL-fIN bASE; bROAD bLAck MARgINS ON VERTIcAL fINS. INTERMAxILLARY TOOTH PATcH SLIgHTLY uPTuRNED AT ITS ANTERIOR END; VOMERINE TEETH IN A SMALL TRIANguLAR PATcH, ITS LENgTH AbOuT 1 / 4 TO 1 / 3 Of THAT Of THE MAxILLARY TOOTH ROW. PREANAL VERTEbRAE 54 ‒ 66, PREcAuDAL VERTEbRAE 76 ‒ 89, AND TOTAL VERTEbRAE 144 ‒ 158.

The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species

discussion

Remarks. Ariosoma meeki cAN bE EASILY DISTINguISHED fROM OTHER cONgENERS IN TAIWAN bY HAVINg TWO bLAck PATcHES AT THE POSTERIOR MARgIN Of THE EYE AND bY LAckINg PORES bEHIND AND bETWEEN THE EYES AND IN THE SuPRATEMPORAL cANAL. THE cOLOR Of THE PEcTORAL fIN SHOWS gREAT VARIATION, fROM PINkISH TO ENTIRELY bLAck. THE PORES ON THE HEAD AND LATERAL LINE ARE gENERALLY SMALLER THAN THOSE Of OTHER cONgENERS. THE HEAD IS gENERALLY STOuTER THAN THAT Of OTHER cONgENERS. TWO SPEcIMENS (ASIZP 71041, NMMB-P 21748) APPEARED LESS SIMILAR TO A. meeki. THE OVERALL APPEARANcE IS SIMILAR TO A. meeki, HOWEVER, THERE ARE SLIgHTLY MORE PORES ON THE HEAD, WITH 3 + 0 OR 3 + 1 SO PORES; IO WITH 1 ‒ 4 PORES bEHIND THE EYE; 0 ‒ 2 PREOPERcuLAR PORES; AND 0 OR 3 SMALL ST PORES. THERE ARE TWO INDISTINcT bLAck PATcHES AT THE POSTERIOR MARgIN Of THE EYE, ONE AbOVE AND ONE bELOW, buT NOT AS cLEAR AS IN THE OTHER SPEcIMENS. THE DORSAL fIN HAS A bROAD bLAck MARgIN AND THE ANAL fIN A THIN bLAck MARgIN. THESE SHOuLD PRObAbLY bE TREATED SEPARATELY. UNPubLISHED gENETIc DATA REVEAL TWO cLADES IN TAIWAN. ONE Of THESE cLADES cONSISTS ONLY Of LARVAE, HOWEVER, AND WE cANNOT cOMPARE AND EVALuATE THE TWO cLADES uNTIL WE HAVE MO

The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species