ISSN 0032�9452, Journal of Ichthyology, 2013, Vol. 53, No. 9, pp. 775–777. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2013.Original Russian Text © A.N. Kotlyar, 2013, published in Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 2013, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 746–748.

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The first revisions of fishes from the genus Melam�phaes were conducted long ago (Norman, 1929; Ebel�ing, 1962). The latter work of Alfred Ebeling is espe�cially important: 19 species are referred to the genus.The representatives of the family Melamphaidaeinclude both multirakered (20–24 gill rakers on thefirst branchial arch) and low�rakered (19 gill rakersand less) species (Kotlyar, 2011a). The revision of themultirakered species was conducted recently (Kotlyar,2011a, 2011b, 2012a, 2012b). The number of thesespecies (including the descriptions of the new species)reaches 15 (Kotlyar, 2012b).

During the investigation of the collections of theShirshov Institute of Oceanology, I found a specimenfrom the Tasman Sea, which (based on the combina�tion of the characters) cannot be referred to anyknown species of the family Melamphaidae. Accord�ing to key table of Ebeling (1962), this specimen issimilar to Melamphaes polylepis Ebeling, 1962. How�ever, based on the key for the multirakered species(Kotlyar, 2012b), it is similar to two species, M. poly�lepis and M. falsidicus Kotlyar, 2011. The goal of thisstudy is the description of this unusual specimen.

The following abbreviations of morphometriccharacters are applied in the study: SL—standardlength of the body; c—head length; ao—snout length;o—horizontal eye diameter; po—postorbital dis�tance; hc—head depth; io—interorbital space width;hf—forehead depth; lmx—upper jaw length; lmd—lower jaw length; hl—suborbital bone width; opop—distance between the lower margin of the eye andinternal angle of the preoperculum; lr—width of theangular part of the preoperculum; l sp.br.—length ofthe angular gill raker on the first branchial arch;l fil.p.—length of the longest pseudobranchial fila�ment; H—largest body depth; h—caudal peduncledepth; lca—caudal peduncle length; aD, aP, aV, andaA—antedorsal, antepectoral, anteventral, and antea�nal distances, respectively; PV1—pectoventral dis�tance; PV2—pectoventral distance along the horizon�tal between the verticals through the lower edge of the

pectoral fin base and pelvic fin origin; VA—ventroanaldistance; lD and lA—lengths of the bases of the dorsaland anal fins; lP and lV—lengths of the pectoral andpelvic fins; pD1 and pA1—postdorsal and postanal dis�tances from the origins of D and A to the caudal fin ori�gin; pD2 and pA2 —postdorsal and postanal distancesfrom the ends of D and A to the caudal fin origin; D, A,P, and V—number of rays in the dorsal, anal, pectoral,and pelvic fins, respectively; sp.br.—number of gillrakers on the first branchial arch (upper part + angularraker + lower part) (all rakers including the rudimen�tary elements are counted); sp.br.4—number of gillrakers on the fourth branchial arch (upper part + lowerpart); squ1—number of transversal scale rows from theocciput to the caudal fin origin; squ2—number oftransversal scale rows from the temple to the caudal finorigin; s—number of scales in the skewed row fromthe D origin to А; pr.sq.—number of predorsal scales;fil.p.—number of pseudobranchial filaments; vert.—vertebral number including the urostil; pc—number ofpyloric caeca.

Melamphaes uniformis Kotlyar, sp. nov.

(Fig. 1a)

Ty p e m a t e r i a l. ZMMU no. P�23301, holo�type, SL 36.0 mm, female with the gonads at I–II maturity stage (?), research vessel Dmitrii Men�deleev, cruise 16, December 27, 1975, station 1242,32°30′ S, 155°27′ E, multidepth Isaacs�Kidd trawl(MIKT), 4820 m depth of site, trawling depth 500 (0) m.

P r e s e r v a t i o n. The specimen is in a good con�dition. The scales are lost (as is usual for the majorityof landed representatives of the family Melam�phaidae). Small skin destructions are observed on thehead. For this reason, the number of pores and theirlocation in several seismosensory canals (in particular,in the preoperculomandibular canal on the preoper�culum above the angle of the bone and in the subor�bital canal inside the angle of the cheek) are not deter�mined.

Melamphaes uniformis, a New Species of the Family Melamphaidae from the Tasman Sea

A. N. KotlyarShirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovskii pr. 36, Moscow, 117218 Russia

e�mail: kotlyar@ocean.ruReceived January 23, 2013

DOI: 10.1134/S0032945213060052

Keywords: Melamphaidae, Melamphaes uniformis, new species, Tasman Sea

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KOTLYAR

D i a g n o s i s. Species with 22–23 gill rakers onfirst branchial arch; vertebrae 29, including 11 abdom�inal vertebrae; two thorns directed down and aside(“spurs”) on haemal arch of first caudal vertebra;D III 16; P 15; seven soft rays in dorsal fin; pelvic finorigin below vertical through posterior edge of pecto�ral fin base; anal fin origin below third ray of dorsal fin(from its end); four scales on the operculum.

D e s c r i p t i o n. D III 16, A I 8, P 15, V I 7,sp.br. 7 + 1 + 15 = 23 (left side), 5 + 1 + 16 = 22 (rightside), sp.br.4 4 + 11 = 15, fil.p. 4, squ1 32, squ2 28, s 9,pr.sq. 7, pc 7, vert. 11 + 18 = 29.

Head depth 4.3 times in SL. Caudal peduncle3.4 times in SL. Caudal peduncle depth 10.3 times inSL. Anal fin origin below third ray of dorsal fin (fromits end). Pelvic fin base origin at level of verticalthrough posterior edge of pectoral fin base.

Head length 3.1 times in SL. Eyes 5.6 times in с;postorbital distance 1.6 times in с; suborbital bonewidth slightly smaller than eye diameter (1.3 times ineye diameter). Upper jaw slightly behind verticalthrough posterior margin of eye, distance between ver�ticals through posterior margin of eye and end of upperjaw 4.0 times in eye diameter. Upper jaw length2.0 times in с, lower jaw length 1.7 times in c. Onupper and lower jaws, teeth in three irregular rows.Gill rakers on first branchial arch flattened, with notnumerous comparatively large and sharp thorns alongtheir internal margins (Fig. 1c). Widths of gill rakerslocated in middle part of arch approximately equal todistances between them. On left side of body, two firstrakers as single thorns. Angular gill raker 5.5 times in c.Its length approximately equal to eye diameter. Four

easily falling scales on the operculum (based on scalepouches). Seven small sharp thorns on upper posterioredge of pectoral plate the operculum. Two pores insuborbital seismosensory canal above posterior edge ofupper jaw; three or four pores inside cheek angle(exact number of pores not determined due to destruc�tions of skin on both sides of head).

M o r p h o m e t r i c c h a r a c t e r s, in % SL:с 31.9, ao 6.3, o 5.6, po 19.7, hc 26.1, io 13.9, hf 5.6,lmx 16.1, lmd 18.3, hl 4.2, opop 11.1, lr 5.3, l sp.br. 5.8,l fil.p. 0.8, H 23.3, h 9.7, lca 29.2, aD 41.7, aP 36.9,aV 40.0, aA 62.5, PV1 4.2, PV2 0, VA 29.2, lD 28.3,lP 23.1+, lV broken, lA 9.4, pD1 62.5, pD2 34.7,pA1 39.7, pA2 30.6. In % с: ao 20.0, o 17.3, po 61.7,hc 81.7, io 43.5, hf 17.3, lmx 50.4, lmd 57.4, hl 13.0,opop 34.8, lr 16.5, l sp.br. 18.3, l fil.p. 2.6.

C o l o r a t i o n of specimen fixed in ethanolmonochrome brown, fins light, and oral�branchialcavity brown.

E t y m o l o g y. The Latin name of the species(uniformis) means uniform and simple, which under�lines its external similarity to other species of the genusand monochrome coloration of the holotype.

N o t e s. The features of two species, M. polylepisand M. falsidicus, which are similar to M. uniformis, are asfollows: the number of abdominal vertebrae (11), thepresence of the “spurs” on the haemal arch of the firstcaudal vertebra (Fig. 1b), and 14–16 soft rays in thedorsal fin. The former species is characterized by a cir�cumtropical range (the Atlantic and Indian oceans, aswell as western and central parts of the Pacific Ocean),and the latter species is distributed in the North Atlantic.

(а)

(b) (c)

Fig. 1. Melamphaes uniformis: (a) SL 36.0 mm, holotype ZMMU, no. P�23301, scale bar 10 mm; (b) first caudal vertebra;(c) angular gill raker of the first branchial arch.

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Melamphaes uniformis, A NEW SPECIES 777

A comparison of morphometric characters inM. uniformis and M. polylepis shows that the eyes arelarger in the former species (6.0 vs. 3.4–4.8% SL or20.0 vs. 10.5–15.0% c), the postorbital distance islower (19.7 vs. 20.1–24.4% SL or 61.7 vs. 63.2–73.8% c),the head is deeper (26.1 vs. 23.3–24.7% SL or 81.7 vs.72.4–77.9% c), the forehead is deeper (5.6 vs. 3.8–4.8% SL or 17.3 vs. 11.6–15.4% c), the gill rakers areshorter (5.8 vs. 6.6–6.9% SL or 13.0 vs. 19.5–21.4% c),and the caudal peduncle is longer (29.2 vs. 24.6–27.7% SL). M. uniformis differs from M. polylepis inlarger number of soft rays in the dorsal fin (16 vs. 14–15), lower number of transversal scale rows from theocciput and temple to the caudal fin (32 and 28 inM. uniformis vs. 34–35 and 29–30 in M. polylepis),and lower number of pseudobranchial filaments (4 vs.5–7). In M. uniformis, the anal fin is located substan�tially anteriorly (below the vertical through the thirdray of the caudal fin (from its end)) in comparison toM. polylepis (in the majority of examined specimens,the anal fin origin is behind the vertical through thelast ray of the dorsal fin, and the anal fin origin is belowthe last ray of the dorsal fin in a small number of spec�imens (14%)). In M. polylepis, the pelvic fins arelocated behind the vertical through the posterior edgeof the pectoral fin base, and these fins are located atthe vertical in M. uniformis. These two species differ inthe distribution of thorns on gill rakers: in M. unifor�mis, the thorns of different sizes are not numerous andsparsely distributed; in M. polylepis, the thorns of uni�form size are numerous and densely distributed (Kot�lyar, 2011b).

M. uniformis differs from M. falsidicus in slightlylower head length (31.9 vs. 32.8–33.8% SL), lowerhead depth (23.3 vs. 26.1–28.2% SL), and larger ante�pectoral (36.9 vs. 33.9–34.4% SL) and anteventral(40.0 vs. 28.8–37.9% SL) distances. In percents ofhead length, M. uniformis possesses deeper head (81.7vs. 71.2–80.7% c), larger interorbital distance (43.5 vs.34.2–42.1% c), larger forehead depth (17.3 vs. 11.6–15.8% c), longer upper (50.4 vs. 44.6–48.1% c) andlower (57.4 vs. 54.7–56.8% c) jaws, and shorter gillrakers (18.3 vs. 20.0–22.1% c). Based on meristiccharacters, the species distinctly differ in the number

of transversal scale rows along the flank of the bodyfrom the occiput (32 vs. 34–35) and the temple (28 vs.29–30) to the origin of the caudal fin and in the num�ber of pseudobranchial filaments (4 vs. 5–6). InM. falsidicus, the anal fin is located just behind the ver�tical through the last ray of the dorsal fin. In this spe�cies, a single pore (two pores in M. uniformis) is foundin the suborbital seismosensory canal above the poste�rior end of the upper jaw. In M. falsidicus, as well as inM. polylepis, the thorns on the gill rakers of the firstbranchial arch are numerous, small, and densely dis�tributed. These features are different from those regis�tered in M. uniformis.

D i s t r i b u t i o n. Up to now, the species is knownbased on the single catch in the southwest part of theTasman Sea. This catch is conducted with the pelagictrawl within the horizon 500–0 m in the morning(3:30–4:30 a.m.).

REFERENCES

Ebeling, A.W., Melamphaidae I. Systematics and zoogeo�graphy of the species in bathypelagic fish genus MelamphaesGünther, Dana Rept., 1962, no. 8, pp. 1–164.

Kotlyar, A.N., Revision of genus Melamphaes (Melam�phaidae). I. Multi�raker species: M. lugubris, M. xestoachi�dus sp. nova, M. microps, M. manifestus sp. nova, J. Ich�thyol., 2011a, vol. 51, no. 8, pp. 557–568.

Kotlyar, A.N., Revision of genus Melamphaes (Melam�phaidae). II. Multi�raker species: M. polylepis, M. falsidicussp. nova, M. pachystomus sp. nova, M. macrocephalus,M. leprus, J. Ichthyol., 2011b, vol. 51, no. 8, pp. 569–580.

Kotlyar, A.N., Revision of the genus Melamphaes (Melam�phaidae): Part 3. Multirakered species: M. suborbitalis,M. parini, and M. acanthomus, J. Ichthyol., 2012a, vol. 52,no. 2, pp. 137–148.

Kotlyar, A.N., Revision of genus Melamphaes (Melam�phaidae): Part 4. Multi�raker species: M. ebelingi,M. occlusus sp. nova, and M. nikolayi sp. nova, J. Ichthyol.,2012b, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 247–254.

Norman, J.R., A preliminary revision of the Berycoid fishesof the genus Melamphaes, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 10,1929, vol. 4, no. 20, pp. 153–168.

Translated by D. Pavlov