Nettenchelys exoria Böhlke & Smith 1981

Smith, David G., Lin, James, Chen, Hong-Ming & Pogonoski, John J., 2015, The eels of the genus Nettenchelys, with description of a new species from Taiwan (Teleostei: Anguilliformes: Nettastomatidae), Zootaxa 4060 (1), pp. 105-120 : 110

Nettenchelys exoria Böhlke & Smith 1981

Fig. 1 e

Nettenchelys exorius Böhlke & Smith in Smith et al. 1981:556, figs. 8D, 9, 12 (western Atlantic off Florida, 29°41’N, 80°11’W, depth 347 m). Holotype. ANSP 142275 (female, 467 mm). Smith & Castle 1982:16; Smith 1989:602; Claro et al. 2000:20.

Material. Seven specimens known, 182–467 mm. Holotype: ANSP 142275. Paratypes: ANSP 130813 (1, 429 mm), ANSP 131739 (male, 329 mm). Others: ANSP 156856 [formerly UMML 20867] (1, 253 mm), FSBC [formerly FDNR] 17770 (1, 182 mm), FSBC 17771 (1, 395 mm), Instituto de Oceanología Cuba (1, 255 mm).

Diagnosis. Anterior vomerine teeth not uniserial; posterior nostril behind head, about midway between supratemporal canal and dorsal-fin origin, approximately over fourth LL pore; median ST pore absent; 14–16 POM pores; PDV 7; PAV 43–44. See Table 1 for additional characters.

Distribution. Adult specimens are known from the east coast of Florida, the Bahamas, and the south coast of Cuba. Larvae of either this species or N. inion have also been collected in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Greater Antilles, and in the Gulf Stream and the Sargasso Sea area ( Smith & Castle 1982:16).

Remarks. This species was described from four specimens from the east coast of Florida and the Bahamas. Smith (1989:603) added two more specimens from northeastern Florida, and Claro et al. (2000:20) reported a specimen from the south coast of Cuba in the Caribbean.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Position of the posterior nostrils in nine species of the genus Nettenchelys (modified after Karmovskaya, 1999). (a) N. pygmaea, N. proxima; (b) N. gephyra and N. dionisi; (c) N. inion; (d) N. paxtoni; (e) N. exoria; (f) N. erroriensis; and (g) N. taylori.