Barathronus maculatus Shcherbachev, 1976

Nielsen, Jørgen G., Pogonoski, John J. & Appleyard, Sharon A., 2019, Aphyonid-clade species of Australia (Teleostei, Bythitidae) with four species new to Australian waters and a new species of Barathronus, Zootaxa 4564 (2), pp. 554-572 : 563-565

Barathronus maculatus Shcherbachev, 1976

Table 2, Figs. 1 , 6–8

Remarks. Barathronus maculatus is relatively often caught by commercial trawlers as it occurs on the upper continental slope. For the present paper 21 specimens were examined of which 13 are from Australian waters. Nothing indicates a difference between the specimens from Australian waters and those from elsewhere. Long preserved specimens of B. maculatus with completely bleached lateral pigmentation may be confused with B. algrahami (described in this paper), but additional characters separate the two species (see B. algrahami ).

Diagnosis. Barathronus maculatus is the largest Barathronus species known, up to 225 mm SL. It differs from all other Barathronus species by the distinct, dark brown pigmentation dorsally between head and dorsal fin and on sides of the light brown body in preserved specimens (Fig. 6B); in newly caught specimens (Fig. 6A) the pigmentation is dark blue like the peritoneum and the body is faintly reddish. Also the following combination of characters is diagnostic: dorsal fin rays 75–83, anal fin rays 55–66, vertebrae 74–79, vomer with up to four fangs and dentary with up to five fangs. Length of penis up to 10 % SL; it is proximally covered by a large dorsal clasper and a smaller ventral clasper protected ventrally by a well-developed fleshy hood. In specimens longer than about 140 mm SL the eyes are not externally visible while the eyes of smaller specimens appear as a narrow, dark ring surrounding lighter tissue (Fig. 8).

Distribution ( Fig. 1 ). The 13 Australian records of B. maculatus are from off NSW and WA. Specimens are also known from South Africa to Japan and the Philippines. Eight of these (see comparative material) are examined for this paper. Caught at 386–1525 m depth.

Comparative material. BSKU 28689 (137 mm SL) and 86066 (115 mm SL) both off Japan , MNHN 1984- 371 (144 mm SL) off Madagascar , SAMZ MB-F 031499 (116+ mm SL) off South Africa , USNM 150285 (156 mm SL) off Japan , ZISP 42298 (157 mm SL) and 45144 (182 mm SL) both SW Indian Ocean , ZMUC P771755 (118+ mm SL) off Madagascar .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Records of aphyonid-clade species in Australian waters including the non-Australian paratypes of Barathronus algrahami n. sp. Some symbols represent more than one specimen (Image © NASA, TerraMetrics, Google Earth).