Lagiacrusichthys, Davis, 2015

Davis, Matthew P., 2015, Evolutionary Relationships of the Deep-Sea Pearleyes (Aulopiformes: Scopelarchidae) and a New Genus of Pearleye from Antarctic Waters, Copeia 103 (1), pp. 64-71 : 65-67

Lagiacrusichthys , new genus urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:209AF244-2639-4327-A7CD-16AD95095EBB

Figure 1

Type species.— Lagiacrusichthys macropinnis

Benthalbella macropinna . Bussing and Bussing, 1966:53–64, fig. 1.

Diagnosis.— The genus Lagiacrusichthys can be distinguished from all other members of Scorpelarchidae based on the unique combination of the following characters modified from Bussing and Bussing (1966) and Johnson (1974): long anal fin with 35–39 anal-fin rays (17–30 in other species of Scopelarchidae ); dorsal fin small and approximately same size or smaller than adipose fin, with a low dorsal-fin ray count of 5–6 (6–10 in other species of Scopelarchidae ).

Habitat and distribution.— Found predominantly in marine waters in the southern hemisphere with a circumpolar distribution in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current ( Bussing and Bussing, 1966; Johnson, 1974; Post, 1990).

Collected predominantly from deep-sea open ocean environments (meso-bathypelagic) at depths ranging from 610–2750 meters ( Bussing and Bussing, 1966; Johnson, 1974).

Etymology.— Named for a wyvern, a dragon-like creature from mythology, specifically the sea-wyvern Lagiacrus, known for his fierceness and for inhabiting the deep. Treated as masculine.

Figures

FIG. 1. Lagiacrusichthys macropinnis, from meso-bathypelagic Antarctic waters (MCZ 125832). A small dorsal fin (5–6 rays), indicated by the arrow, and a long anal fin (35–39 rays) are differentially diagnostic features of the genus Lagiacrusichthys. Scale bars equal 1 cm.