Bleekeriella, Marceniuk & Oliveira & Ferraris Jr, 2024

Marceniuk, Alexandre Pires, Oliveira, Claudio & Ferraris Jr, Carl J., 2024, A new classification of the family Ariidae (Osteichthyes: Ostariophysi: Siluriformes) based on combined analyses of morphological and molecular data, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 200 (2), pp. 426-476 : 463

Bleekeriella gen. nov.

MP 100, BI 1, ML 100

( Figs 1–3, 40)

ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8CB66BBD-FB43-495E-B45A-EBF42667194F .

Type species: Arius leptaspis Bleeker, 1862 .

Diagnosis (all of ambiguous optimization)

Posterior branch of lateral ethmoid depressed (13, 0> 1); posterior cranial fontanel absent (26, 1> 0); epiphyseal bar indistinct (28, 0> 1); medial groove of cranium absent (30, 0> 1); temporal fossa very reduced (39, 1> 0); posterior process of exoccipital sutured to Müllerian ramus (93, 0> 1); autopalatine posterior portion conspicuously compressed (106, 0> 1); articulation of autopalatine with lateral ethmoid posteromesially oriented (110, 0> 1); lateral and mesial portions of premaxilla with different sizes (121,0> 1); anteroventral portion of opercle subtrapezoidal, very long (127, 1> 0); one-half or less of interopercle posterior part contacting ventral margin of opercle (131, 1> 0); sesamoid bone I very long and subtriangular (145, 0> 1); Müllerian ramus bone blade evident only basally (206, 2> 1); Müllerian ramus distal third markedly curved (208, 1> 2).

Etymology

Named for the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878) who contributed greatly to our understanding of the taxonomy of ariids from the Indo–Malaysian archipelago. Gender: feminine.

Included species

Bleekeriella leptaspis Bleeker, 1862

Bleekeriella aff. leptaspis .

Habitat and distribution: Predominantly brackish waters, southern New Guinea and northern Australia ( Fig. 38).

Remarks

Arius leptaspis was previously included in Ariopsis Kailola 2004 or Sciades ( Marceniuk and Menezes 2007, Marceniuk et al. 2012), but results of the total-evidence analysis indicate that it is not closely related to species of either genus, but is related closely to an unnamed species from Indonesia. These findings corroborate a previous molecular study (Betancur-R. 2009).