Barathronus bruuni Nielsen, 1969

Nielsen, Jørgen G., 2019, Revision of the circumglobal genus Barathronus (Ophidiiformes, Bythitidae) with a new species from the eastern North Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 4679 (2), pp. 231-256 : 239

Barathronus bruuni Nielsen, 1969

Table 1. Figs. 2 , 9

Barathronus bruuni Nielsen, 1969: 51 (type locality: 29°45’S, 64°58’E).

Barathronus bruuni: Nielsen et al. 1999: 138 .

Material examined ( 1 specimen, SL 39 mm). Holotype: USNM 202104 (SL 39 mm, female), SW Indian Ocean, 29°45’S, 64°58’E, RV Anton Bruun, cr. 6, st. 351 B, Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl, about 1700 m (sounding 4825 m), 28 June 1964.

Diagnosis. Barathronus bruuni differs from the other five Barathronus species with pigmented peritoneum by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays 81, anal-fin rays 73, pectoral-fin rays 25, long rakers on anterior gill arch 33, precaudal vertebrae 36, total vertebrae 86, no ventral flexure of anteriormost vertebrae, 3 fangs on vomer. A distinct brown streak in midline of body and a concentration of brown pigment between dorsal fin and nape. The rounded, 1 mm long otoliths seen through of the skull.

Description. Only the holotype is known. For a detailed description see Nielsen (1969: 51). The principal meristic and morphometric characters are shown in Table 1.

Comparisons. Barathronus bruuni seems most similar to B. maculatus but differs by having more anal fin rays (73 vs 54–66), more vertebrae (86 vs 74–79) and origin of anal fin below dorsal fin ray no. 10 in B. bruuni and below nos. 15–23 in B. maculatus .

Distribution ( Fig. 2 ). Caught pelagically between 1700 m and the surface in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Records of Indo-Pacific Barathronus species. Numbers indicate several stations.

FIGURE 9. Barathronus bruuni, USNM 202104, holotype, female, SL 39 mm: A—after 55 years preservation (S. Raredon photo). B—drawing (from Nielsen 1969).