Neobythites meteori Nielsen, 1995

Uiblein, Franz & Nielsen, Jørgen G., 2018, Review of the steatiticus - species group of the cuskeel genus Neobythites (Ophidiidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4387 (1), pp. 157-173 : 165

Neobythites meteori Nielsen, 1995

( Figures 1–2 , Tables 1, 3)

Neobythites meteori Nielsen,1995: 7 , fig. 6a.

Neobythites unimaculatus: Kotthaus 1979: 13 , fig. 462.

Holotype. ZMH 5621 (female, 102 mm SL), off southwestern Socotra Island , Yemen, NW Indian Ocean, 11°33.9' N, 52°54' E; RV Meteor, st. 102, Agassiz trawl; 175–337 m depth; 20 Dec. 1964 .

Diagnosis. Flat process on hind margin of preopercle; dorsal fin-rays 91; anal-fin rays 75; pectoral fin-rays 27; precaudal vertebrae 13; total vertebrae 53; pseudobranchial filaments 3; long gill rakers on anterior arch 6; head length 22.0 % SL; pelvic-fin length 11.0 % SL, pelvic fins not reaching anus; orbit length 4.1–4.9 % SL, 22.0 % head length, and and 2.0 times in upper-jaw length; longest gill filament 2.8 % SL and 13.0 % head length; ocellus spot placed above anus, the ocellus-spot distance being 39.0 % SL, and the spot covering 9 dorsal-fin rays; dorsal and anal fins not pigmented; no vertical bars on body; otolith length 4.6 % SL.

Distribution. Off Sokotra Island, NW Indian Ocean, at 175–337 m depth.

Remarks. In his review, Nielsen (1995: 8) included a second specimen (from off Lombok) as Neobythites meteori without designated it as paratype. This specimen is described as N. lombokensis n. sp. in the current paper. A photo of the freshly caught specimen, later to become the holotype of N. meteori , shows no dark margins or bands on dorsal and anal fins (cf. Kotthaus 1979). Also, the otolith of the holotype of N. meteori turned out to be in bad condition allowing us only to measure otolith length and height.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Indo-Pacific Neobythites steatiticus species group. All photographs at left side and F show preserved fishes; the remaining five photographs at right side show fresh fishes, photographed on board immediately after capture. A) Neobythites gloriae n. sp. USNM 309008, HT, 158 mm SL, inner Gulf of Oman; B) N. lombokensis, ZMUC P 77744, HT, 93 mm SL, SE off Lombok, preserved (B1) and fresh (B2; side reversed); C) N. longipes, ZMUC P77740, 98 mm SL, SE off Lombok, preserved (C1) and fresh (C2); D) N. malayanus, ZMUC P77742, 138 mm SL, SE off Lombok, preserved (D1) and fresh (D2); E) N. malhaensis, ZMUC P77840, PT, 135 mm SL, Saya de Malha bank, preserved; F) N. meteori, ZMH 5621, HT, 102 mm SL, off Sokotra, preserved; G) N. steatiticus, ZMUC P771752, 162 mm SL, off Myanmar, preserved (G1) and fresh (G2); H1) N. stefanovi, ZMUC P77841, PT, 198 mm SL, Gulf of Aden, preserved; H2) N. stefanovi, SMF 26785, 111 mm SL, Red Sea, fresh. Photographers: Oddgeir Alvheim (G2), Thomas Gloerfelt-Tarp (B2, C2, D2), Marcus Krag (A, B1, C1, D1, E, G1, H1), Ralph Thiel (F), Michael Türkay (H2). The blue bars indicate 1 cm length for the respective specimen.

FIGURE 2. Distribution of studied specimens of Neobythites, with numbers indicating multiple sampling events.