 |
| Ichthyscopus pollicaris
Vilasri, Ho, Kawai & Gomon, 2019
|
Abstract
A new uranoscopid fish, Ichthyscopus pollicaris sp. nov., is described from East Asia waters around Taiwan and Japan. It can be distinguished from other congeners in having the ventral midline of the belly forming 3 prominent prolonged skin flaps, its posterior nostril oval to circular in shape, its pectoral-fin base lacking distinct blotches, and the uppermost pectoral-fin ray and adjacent interspace membrane with 1 or 2 white spots. The biogeography of I. pollicaris is discussed.
Keywords: Pisces, Perciformes, Taxonomy, Biogeography, Uranoscopidae
 |
| FIGURE 1. Holotype of Ichthyscopus pollicaris sp. nov., 187 mm SL, NMMB-P24460. A: lateral view of fresh condition; B: dorsal view of preserved condition. |
 |
| FIGURE 2. Paratypes of Ichthyscopus pollicaris sp. nov. A, B (dorsal view): NMMB-P28076, 308 mm SL; C: KAUM–I. 128242, 230 mm SL; D: NMV A31864-001, 216 mm SL (Photos taken by K. Koeda). |
Ichthyscopus pollicaris sp. nov.
English name: Oriental Fringe Stargazer;
Japanese name: サツオミシマ (Satsuo-mishima); Taiwan name:東方披 肩騰 (Dong-fang-pi-jian-teng)
"ปลาอุบยักษ์แต้มขาว"
Diagnosis. A species of Ichthyscopus with caudal vertebrae 17; upper lip fimbriae 20–27; ventral midline of
belly forming three prominent prolonged skin flaps, one midline flap and two sandwiching midline flap; shape of
posterior nostril oval to circular; pectoral-fin base uniformly pale brown, lacking distinct blotches; 1 or 2 white spots
present on uppermost pectoral-fin ray
 |
| FIGURE 5. Lateral view of middle body showing pattern of blotch and spots on pectoral fin. WS, white spot; TB, transverse pale blotch (arrowed). A: Ichthyscopus pollicaris sp. nov., holotype; B: I. lebeck, THNHM-F12677. Not to scale. |
Distribution. Restricted to the coastal waters of East Asia between about Japan Sea and East China Sea from
Jeju Province in South Korea through Niigata Prefecture in Japan to the western coast of Kyushu and Pacific Ocean
from Suruga Bay to the southern coast of Kyushu (Yamada & Yagishita, 2013) in the north and the northeast region
of South China Sea from the northern Taiwan (Shen, 1984a) through Penghu Islands (Chen, 2003) to the southern
Taiwan (present study) in the south.
Etymology. The specific name pollicaris from the Latin meaning “thumb” in reference to the distinctive uppermost pectoral fin ray adorned with 1 or 2 white spots characterizing this species
Veera Vilasri, Hsuan-Ching Ho, Toshio Kawai and Martin F. Gomon. 2019. A New Stargazer, Ichthyscopus pollicaris (Perciformes: Uranoscopidae), from East Asia. Zootaxa. 4702(1); 49–59. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4702.1.10
