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Enneapterygius velatus, a new deepwater triplefin (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae) from the Ryukyu Islands, southern Japan

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Abstract

A new deepwater species, Enneapterygius velatus sp. nov. (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae), is described from two male specimens from Ryukyu Island, southern Japan, the holotype having been collected at a depth of 55 m and an underwater photograph taken between 30 and 41 m depth. The new species is characterized by an extremely long first dorsal-fin spine (length 31.6–34.0 % of SL), the first dorsal-fin spine bases close together, first dorsal-fin base length less than half the distance between the base of the third spine of the first dorsal-fin and origin of second dorsal-fin, first dorsal-fin spine base with developed inclinator muscles, long pelvic fins (tip of second ray extending beyond anal-fin origin), large body scales (8 circumpeduncular scales), the supratemporal sensory canals deeply U-shaped in dorsal view, snout profile weakly rounded, abdomen from between pelvic-fin bases to anal-fin origin covered by cycloid scales, body lacking significant blackish blotches and caudal-fin base with scattered melanophores in preserved specimens.

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Photo by T. Katano

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References

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to T. Kawamoto for collecting the holotype of E. velatus and T. Katano (Okinawa Diving Center) for providing underwater photograph of the species. We also appreciate M. McGrouther (AMS), K. Hagiwara (YCM), and M. Allen and G. Moore (WAM) for opportunities to examine specimens. We especially thank G. Hardy (Ngunguru, New Zealand) for English corrections and helpful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (DC2: 16J09608) to the first author; JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP26241027, JP24370041, JP23580259, and JP26450265; the JSPS Core-to-Core Program: B Asia-Africa Science Platforms; the “Biological Properties of Biodiversity Hotspots in Japan” project of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan; “Establishment of Research and Education Network on Biodiversity and Its Conservation in the Satsunan Islands” project of Kagoshima University adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan; and the “Island Research” project by Kagoshima University.

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Correspondence to Satokuni Tashiro.

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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as E0D23700-1130-4F06-AD2D-3660FB583C95.

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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Tashiro, S., Senou, H. & Motomura, H. Enneapterygius velatus, a new deepwater triplefin (Perciformes: Tripterygiidae) from the Ryukyu Islands, southern Japan. Ichthyol Res 65, 346–352 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-0617-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-0617-8

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