Redescription of the Snailfish <i>Careproctus rhodomelas</i> (Cottoidei: Liparidae), with Ontogenetic and Distributional Notes

A new snailfish of the genus Careproctus (Cottoidei: Liparidae) from the Pacific coast of southern Japan

“…Careproctus , and a moderate sized pelvic disk, length 3.4-4.3% SL (vs. large, 7.9% SL in C. surugaensis) (Sakurai and Shinohara 2008;Murasaki et al 2017Murasaki et al , 2021bthis study).…”

“…5). Species with four paired pleural ribs were unknown in Careproctus, but this degree of difference in the number of pleural ribs (0-2 or 2-3) is recognized as a common intraspecific variation in Careproctus (see Orr et al 2020;Murasaki et al 2021b).…”

“…2011, 2018, 2021Machi et al 2012;Nakabo and Kai 2013;Orr et al 2015Orr et al , 2020Murasaki et al 2017;Matsuzaki et al 2020). Conversely, only three species are currently known from the Pacific coast of southern Japan: Careproctus rhodomelas Gilbert and Burke 1912a, Careproctus rotundifrons Sakurai and Shinohara 2008, and Careproctus surugaensis Murasaki, Takami and Fukui 2017(Sakurai and Shinohara 2008Murasaki et al 2017Murasaki et al , 2021b. During a recent survey of deep-sea fauna conducted by the Marine Science Museum, Tokai University, Shizuoka, Japan (MSM), an unidentified example of Careproctus was captured by bait trap from Suruga Bay, southern Japan (Fig.…”