Lycodes nishimurai, a new deep-sea eelpout (Teleostei: Zoarcidae) from the Sea of Japan

Abstract

A new zoarcid fish, Lycodes nishimuari, is described on the basis of four specimens from the Yamato Bank, the Sea of Japan, at depths of 642-669 m. Although this species resembles Lycodes diapterus, L. hubbsi, L. pectoralis, L. macrochir, and L. nakamurae in having a deep notch in the pectoral fin and a single lateral line on the body, it is distinguished from them by the following combination of characters: no scales on pectoral fin base; scales on dorsum before dorsal fin origin; suborbital, preopercular, and last postorbital pores with risen rim; whitish lips; no whitish transverse bars on body; pectoral fin membrane and anterior part of dorsal fin membrane without black spots; basal color of vertical fins black.Key words Lycodes nishimurai sp. nov. · Sea of Japan · Yamato Bank · Zoarcidae · Deep-sea eelpouts Supplementary material A color version of Lycodes nishimurai sp. nov., NSMT-P 63795 (holotype) in alcohol (Fig. S1), is available on Springer's server at

On the colour types in Lycodes nakamurae (Tanaka, 1914) and species composition of the subgenus Furcimanus (Perciformes: Zoarcidae: Lycodes) in the Sea of Japan

“…Until recently, Lycodes nakamurae (Tanaka, 1914) was the only representative of the subgenus Furcimanus known from the Sea of Japan (Lindberg & Krasukova, 1975;Toyoshima, 1985;Borets, 2000;Anderson & Fedorov, 2004;Stevenson & Sheiko, 2009). However, recently two species belonging to the subgenus-L. nishimurai Shinohara & Shirai, 2005 and L. pectoralis Toyoshima, 1985(Shinohara & Shirai, 2005Kim et al, 2006)-were added to the ichthyofauna of the Sea of Japan.…”

“…A comparison of morphometric, meristic and genetic characters in dark coloured and light coloured individuals suggests that the two colour morphs represent a single species, determined to be Lycodes nakamurae (Tanaka, 1914). Variability in colouration within L. nakamurae and a lack of morphological or molecular characters distinguishing L. nakamurae from L. nishimurai Shinohara & Shirai, 2005 suggest that the latter should be considered a synonym of L. nakamurae (Tanaka, 1914). A record of L. pectoralis in the waters of the Republic of Korea is regarded as a misidentification.…”

Ericandersonia sagamia, a new genus and species of deep-water eelpouts (Perciformes: Zoarcidae) from Japan

“…Sandra J. Raredon (USNM) and Eric J. Hilton (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago) kindly helped us with photography and the phylogenetic analysis, respectively. This study was partly supported by a research project entitled "Study on Environmental Changes in Sagami Sea and Adjacent Coastal Area with Serial Comparison of Fauna and Flora" (National Science Museum, Tokyo, 2001-2005. Anderson ME (1982) …”

“…Although the systematics of the lycodine eelpouts around Japan was reviewed by Toyoshima (1985), there remain several undescribed species. After Toyoshima (1985), 4 new species were described from Japan (Shinohara and Matsuura, 1998;Anderson and Imamura, 2002;Machida et al, 2004;Shinohara and Shirai, 2005).…”

Redescription of two eelpouts, Lycodes microporus Toyoshima 1983 and Lycodes ocellatus Toyoshima 1985 (Perciformes: Zoarcidae)

“…This condition agrees with the description by Toyoshima (1985), and also with nontype specimens. No other Japanese Lycodes species possesses a single black bar on the occipital region (Toyoshima 1985;Shinohara and Shirai 2005;Ikeda et al 2007; this study), thus, this is a useful taxonomic character to distinguish this species from others.…”