Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891

Ho, Hsuan-Ching & Last, Peter R., 2018, Review of the batfish genus Halicmetus Alcock, 1891 from Australian waters, with descriptions of two new species (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), Zootaxa 4508 (2), pp. 179-196 : 191-192

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4508.2.2
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:28A35297-48D9-4CEE-97A7-B294C2D271E5
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5296342
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/9309EE74-C570-6F43-FF10-FA60BD7074AF
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-03-26 07:35:55, last updated 2024-11-27 06:33:28)
scientific name	Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891
status

Treatment

Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891 View in CoL

Vernacular name: Red Shortnose Seabat

Figures 2D View FIGURE 2 , 6 View FIGURE 6 , 7 View FIGURE 7 ; Tables 1–2

Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891:27 View in CoL , pl. 8, figs. 1, 1a–b. (type locality: Andaman Sea, 344–402 m). Alcock, 1898:pl. 19, fig. 5 (figure). Bradbury, 1967:415 (in part). Bradbury, 2003:5 (in part). Ho et al., 2008:767.

Material examined. 8 specimens, 14.4–65.9 mm SL. NMV A29679-007 About NMV (2, 18.4–19.1 mm SL), North West Shelf , Western Australia, 16°44.3’S, 119°15.0’E, 693–698 m, 17 Jun. 2007 GoogleMaps . NMV A29720-004 About NMV (1, 51.7), North West Shelf , 14°33’S, 121°15.4’E, 1021–1023 m, Western Australia, 4 Jul. 2007 GoogleMaps . NMV A29719-011 About NMV (2, 17.2–18.0), North West Shelf , Western Australia, 14°36.9’S, 121°19.7’E, 698–705 m, 3 Jul. 2007 GoogleMaps . NMV A29684-005 About NMV (2, 14.4– 14.8), 17°01’S, 119°35.5’E, North West Shelf , Western Australia, 440–451 m, 18 Jun. 2007 GoogleMaps . WAM P.31798.003 (1, 65.9), N of West Cape , Western Australia, 21°30.4’S, 113°56’E, 650 m, 11 Mar. 2001 GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. A species of Halicmetus distinguished by the following combination of characters: body disk relatively narrow, 63–75% SL; orbit large, 8.8–10.5% SL; interorbital very narrow, 5.1–6.4% SL; illicial trough opening moderately high; mid-dorsal disk with small scattered bucklers, robust and multicuspid spinules and scattered tiny tubercles, the later imperceptible without magnification; belly covered with relatively widely spaced, robust, simple and bifurcate spinules, larger tubercles and bucklers absent; dorsal-fin rays absent in adult; pectoralfin rays 12–13; fresh colour unknown, uniformly creamy white when preserved; peritoneal membrane with dense coverage of melanophores (visible from ventral surface); distal parts of pectoral, pelvic and anal fins blackish.

Remarks. Australian material and the diagnosis given above is consistent with the description of this species provided by Ho et al. (2008).

Alcock (1891) mentioned that his specimens of Halicmetus ruber (2 syntypes) have 11 pectoral-fin rays, whereas the majority of specimens examined in the genus had 12–14 (except H. reticulatus which sometimes had 11). We may assume that Alcock had overlooked 1 or 2 small rays which are usually hard to detect, especially in cases where the pectoral fin is shrunken through partial desiccation. Although Alcock (1891) mentioned that the species is “uniformly light pink”, all specimens we examined have various black pigmentation on body and fins ( Ho et al., 2008; present study).

Brauer (1902) recorded 0–3 dorsal-fin rays and 10–11 pectoral-fin rays in specimens collected off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, and off eastern coast of Africa. However, his specimens are most likely misidentifications of H. marmoratus . The number of pectoral-fin rays is a still slightly lower than that of H. marmoratus so a detailed re-examination on Brauer’s specimens is needed.

It is notable that all six juveniles (14.4–19.1 mm SL) have 3–4 very short dorsal-fin rays, whereas all adults (> 30 mm SL, n=14, Ho, per. data) have no dorsal-fin rays. It is very possible that all or some Halicmetus species have dorsal-fin rays initially and these are gradually reduced or lost with growth. We have not examined juveniles of H. niger , H. cf. ruber or H. drypus which all lack dorsal-fin rays in adults so this hypothesis needs further investigation.

References

Alcock, A. W. (1891) Class Pisces. In: II. Natural history notes from H. M. Indian marine survey steamer`Investigator, ' Commander R. F. Hoskyn, R. N., commanding. Series II. No. 1. On the results of deep-sea dredging during the season 1890 - 91. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 6, 8 (43 / 44), pp. 16 - 34 + 119 - 138, pls. 7 - 8.

Alcock, A. W. (1898) Illustrations of the zoology of the Royal Indian marine surveying steamer Investigator, under the command of Commander T. H. Heming, R. N. Fishes. Part L. Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Tisna, Calcutta, 7 pls. [pls. 18 - 24]

Bradbury, M. G. (1967) The genera of batfishes. Copeia, 1967 (2), 399 - 422. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 1442130

Bradbury, M. G. (2003) Family Ogcocephalidae Jordan 1895 - batfishes. California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes, 17, 1 - 17.

Brauer, A. (1902) Diagnosen von neuen Tiefseefischen, welche von der Valdivia-Expedition gesammelt sind. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 25 (668), 277 - 298.

Ho, H. - C., Endo, H. & Sakamaki, K. (2008) A new species of Halicmetus (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae) from the western Pacific, with comments on congeners. Zoological Studies, 47 (6), 767 - 773.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Front view of five Halicmetus species. A. H. marmoratus, CSIRO H 954-03, 57.8 mm SL. B. Halicmetus westraliensis sp. nov., CSIRO CA3647, holotype. C. H. drypus sp. nov., holotype. D. H. ruber, WAM P.31798-003, 65.9 mm SL. E. H. reticulatus, CSIRO H 4070-48, 74.7 mm. All preserved specimens, not to scale.

FIGURE 6. Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891, WAM P.31798-003, 65.9 mm SL.

FIGURE 7. Specimen collection sites of Halicmetus ruber (red triangles), Halicmetus reticulatus (green diamond), and Halicmetus niger (blue circles). Specimens from Australia only.