Meteoria Nielsen, 1969

Nielsen, Jørgen G., 2016, Revision of the genera Meteoria and Parasciadonus (Bythitidae) with a new Atlantic, abyssal species of Meteoria, Cybium 40 (3), pp. 215-223 : 215-216

Meteoria Nielsen, 1969

Meteoria Nielsen, 1969: 57 , type species by monotypy

Meteoria erythrops Nielsen, 1969 .

Meteoria : Cohen and Nielsen, 1978: 62; Nielsen et al.,

1999: 139; Nielsen, 2015: tab. 1.

Diagnosis

The present generic diagnosis differs somewhat from that in Nielsen et al. (1999: 139) as the number of species has increased from one to three. Body slender, caudal part less than one third of standard length. Skin scaleless, loose and transparent. Eyes minute. Mouth opening oblique, lower jaw slightly protruding. Palatines edentate. Anterior gill arch with 0-10 minute rakers and few extremely small filaments. Vertical fins joined. Rays in dorsal fin 47-58, in caudal fin 7-9, in anal fin 31-40, in pectoral fin 12-15 and in pelvic fin 0. Pectoral peduncle short, higher than long. Precaudal vertebrae 34-41 and total vertebrae 62-70. Skeleton poorly ossified. Vertebral centra in adults rectangular in lateral view. Genital hood developed in both sexes, claspers absent.

Comparisons (see Tab. I)

Of the former aphyonid genera Meteoria seems most similar to Parasciadonus by sharing the following characters: anterior gill arch with very small rakers and filaments, pectoral peduncle short, pelvic fins and genital claspers absent. They differ by Meteoria having an oblique mouth cleft (vs horizontal mouth), lower jaw slightly or not protruding (vs lower jaw distinctly protruding), no skin flaps along lateral line (vs 12-19 small skin flaps along lateral line), dorsal fin rays 47-58 (vs 78), anal fin rays 31-40 (vs 40-48), pectoral fin rays 12-15 (vs 20).