Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts
A new species of the eleotrid genus Thalasseleotris (Teleostei: Gobioidei) from New Zealand coastal waters
Douglass F. Hoese1 and Clive D. Roberts2
1Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. DougH@austmus.gov.au
2Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand.
Abstract The eleotrid Thalasseleotris iota sp. nov. is described from reef habitats in New Zealand coastal marine waters at 2–34 m depth. It is distinguished from its only known congener, T. adela Hoese and Larson, from Australia, by having a narrower gill opening with lower edge extending forward to below posterior margin of eye or slightly behind eye (versus under middle of eye), less extensively scaled body, with naked area reaching to below second dorsal origin or beyond (versus near end of first dorsal fin), higher transverse scale count (usually 7–8 versus 6–7), lower vertebral count (10+16 versus 10+17), anterior nasal tube distinctly longer than posterior nasal tube (versus subequal); two anal pterygiophores before first haemal spine (versus 1), and the uppermost and lowermost scale on base of caudal with enlarged peripheral cteni (versus no enlarged peripheral cteni). In addition, there are several colour differences, including a broad dark area on the basal third of the pectoral fin (versus absent) and thin wavy-grey lines crossing dorsal, anal and caudal fins (versus absent). Maximum adult size is 32.6 mm SL (39.4 mm total length), which makes the pygmy sleeper one of New Zealand’s smallest known vertebrate species.
Keywords Eleotridae; Thalasseleotris iota sp. nov.; pygmy sleeper; taxonomy; New Zealand
R05006 Received 30 April 2005; accepted 4 July 2005; Online publication date 6 December 2005
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand Volume 35, Number 4, December, 2005, pp 417–431
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