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Ostichthys spiniger, a new species of soldierfish from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean (Teleostei: Holocentridae)

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Abstract

A new species of soldierfish, Ostichthys spiniger, from off northern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, is described on the basis of a single specimen collected with a trawl at 180-181 m depth near Kavieng. The new species is characterised by the following characters: scales above lateral line to mid-base of spinous portion of dorsal fin 31/2; no half-scale present anterior to first lateral-line scale; dorsal profile of head nearly uniformly convex; anterior end of each nasal bone with a sharp, forwardly directed spine; a strong spine at the corner of preopercle, which is significantly larger than other serrations; pectoral-fin rays 17; lateral-line scales 29; gill rakers 8 + 13; last dorsal-fin spine shorter than penultimate spine; body depth 2.2 in SL; HL 2.4 in SL; snout very short, 6.6 in HL; least depth of caudal peduncle 4.9 in HL. The new species is compared with other species in the genus. A revised key to the species of Ostichthys is presented. The new species is most similar to O. acanthorhinus.

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Acknowledgements

The KAVIENG 2014 expedition (Principal Investigators: Philippe Bouchet, Jeff Kinch, Claude Payri) was part of the Our Planet Reviewed expeditions organized jointly by Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Pro-Natura International (PNI) and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), with support from Papua New Guinea’s National Fisheries Authority. The lagoon survey took place in June, based at the Nago Island Mariculture and Research Facility, and in August onboard R.V. Alis; the deep-water component took place in September onboard R.V. Alis. Photographs of fish specimens were taken by Jhen-Nien Chen. The organizers acknowledge supporting funding from the Total Foundation, the Laboratoire d’Excellence Diversités Biologiques et Culturelles (LabEx BCDiv, ANR-10-LABX-0003-BCDiv), the Programme Investissement d’Avenir (ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02), the Fonds Pacifique and CNRS Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE). The expedition was endorsed by the New Ireland Provincial Administration. It operated under a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), with a permit delivered by the Papua New Guinea Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).

I would like to thank the following persons for information, loan of specimens or permission to examine specimens under their care: O. Crimmen (BMNH), J. E. Randall, A. Suzumoto (BPBM), D. Golani (HUJ), G. Mou-Tham, M. Kulbicki (IRDNC), S. Ribes (MHNRUN), M.-L. Bauchot, M. Desoutter, J.-C. Hureau, R. Causse (MNHN), S. Smith, J. T. Williams (USNM). I am especially grateful to W.-J. Chen (NTUM) for his hospitality during a visit to Taiwan, and J.-N. Chen and W.-J. Chen (NTUM) for providing access to the material, catalogue numbers and information. I wish to thank Barry C. Russell (NTM, Darwin) who took photographs of the preserved holotype, and Mizuki Matsunuma (Kochi University, Kochi, Japan) who provided data of the species in the Ostichthys japonicus complex, including an undescribed species in that complex, and useful comments on the identity and relationships of O. spiniger sp. nov.

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  1. Im Ramstal 76, 97922, Lauda-Königshofen, Germany

    Ronald Fricke

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  1. Ronald Fricke
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Correspondence to Ronald Fricke.

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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as 38495BBD-DBB5-4ABB-AEE3-9B14F79CC4DE.

This article was published as an Online First article on the online publication date shown on this page. The article should be cited by using the doi number.

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Fricke, R. Ostichthys spiniger, a new species of soldierfish from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean (Teleostei: Holocentridae). Ichthyol Res 65, 127–133 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-017-0600-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-017-0600-9

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