Saccogaster Alcock, 1889

Nielsen, Jørgen G., Schwarzhans, Werner & Cohen, Daniel M., 2012, Revision of Hastatobythites and Saccogaster (Teleostei, Bythitidae) with three new species and a new genus, Zootaxa 3579, pp. 1-36 : 7

Saccogaster Alcock, 1889

Saccogaster Alcock 1889: 389 , type species by monotypy Saccogaster maculata Alcock, 1889 . Barbuliceps Chan 1966: 4 , type species by original designation Barbuliceps tubercularis (lapsus pro tuberculatus ) Chan, 1966. Saccogaster: Cohen & Nielsen 1972 ; Nielsen et al. 1999: 109.

Diagnosis. A genus of the subfamily Bythitinae ( Cohen & Nielsen 1972) characterized by the following combination of characters: A pair of bony spines free or sub-dermal on frontal plate above and behind eyes and one median spine on ethmoid (except none in S. parva ); elongate body with joined vertical fins; anal fin origin behind midpoint of fish; pectoral fins with elongated radials, not adnate; skin thin, translucent (except thick in adult S. tuberculata ); scales absent on head and reduced or absent on body; opercular spine present, free in some species, covered by skin in others; maxilla vertically expanded posteriorly; palatine teeth present; gill opening extending well above dorsal margin of pectoral peduncle; developed gill rakers on anterior arch 3–6; pseudobranchial filaments 2; fin rays in dorsal 80–93, anal 51–64 and pectoral fin 14–22; precaudal vertebrae 12–21, total vertebrae 51–58; males with stalked intromittent organ.

Similarity. The most similar genus is Hastatobythites (see p. 3).

Species. The genus Saccogaster contains eight species known from 41 specimens of which three seem to be lost and two are only accessible at ZSI, Kolkata. Four are known from one specimen only, three species from 3– 6 specimens and one species from 18 specimens.