Narcine Henle, 1834

Ebert, David A., White, William T., Ho, Hsuan-Ching, Last, Peter R., Nakaya, Kazuhiro, Séret, Bernard, Straube, Nicolas, Naylor, Gavin J. P. & De Carvalho, Marcelo R., 2013, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Taiwan, Zootaxa 3752 (1), pp. 279-386 : 343-344

Genus Narcine Henle, 1834

Numbfishes/ ḝḁdzḍé

Narcine Henle, 1834:31 . Type species: Torpedo brasiliensis Olfers 1831 , by subsequent designation.

Narcine brevilabiata Bessednov, 1966

Shortlipnumbfish / Ùőḝḁdzḍ

Narcine brevilabiata Bessednov, 1966: 81 , fig. 8. Type locality: Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea, 17°30'N, 107°00'E, depth 49 m. Holotype: Mus. Fish. Inst. Vladyvostok 3602 (apparently lost).

Local Synonymy: Narcine maculata: Teng, 1962: 188 , fig. 47; Chen & Chung, 1971:5; Chen & Joung, 1993:79, 621, pl. 11, fig. 4; Chen, 2004:23.

Taiwan voucher material: NMMBP 6325 , Penghu, Aug. 1957 ; NMMBP 6327 , Dong-gang , Nov. 1962 .

Remarks: This species is frequently reported from Vietnam (from where it was described; Bessednov, 1966), and is widespread in mostly shallow inshore waters of southeastern Asia (e.g. Liu, 1932, as N. lingula ). Distinguished by presenting numerous small (smaller than eyes) dark brownish spots over disc, pelvics and tail, with fewer and much larger dark brown spots at pectoral insertions, central and outer pectoral disc region, and at dorsal fin bases, with a small mouth and triangular outline of the exposed tooth band ( Carvalho, 1999b). There may be more than one species with roughly these characteristics inhabiting shallow waters of southeastern Asia, and an apparently undescribed form from Indonesia exists ( Carvalho, 1999b). This species is not common in Taiwan and is included here on the basis of few individuals and the photographic record in Chen & Joung (1993).

Conservation status: Vulnerable.

Narcine lingula Richardson, 1846

Roughnumb fish / ǻŖḝḁdzḍ

Narcine lingula Richardson, 1846: 196 . Based on illustration by J. Reeves from specimen from Canton ( Guangzhou , China). No type specimens known.

Local synonymy: Narcine timlei: Teng, 1962: 190-191 , fig. 48; Chen & Chung, 1971:4-5, fig. 2; Chen & Joung, 1993: 79, 621, pl. 11, fig. 5; Chen, 2004:23. Narcine brevilabiata: Shen & Wu, 2011: 91 , fig. Narcine lingula: Chen, 2004: 22 .

Taiwan voucher material: AZISP 54478 (2 spec.), 180 mm TL male, 180 mm TL female ; AZISP 59864 (7 specs.), 375, 280, 250 mm TL adult or immature females, 385, 347, 283, 245 mm TL adult and immature males, Da-xi ; AZISP 70165, 315 mm TL adult female, Da-xi ; AZISP 70353 (2 specs.), 355 mm TL adult male, 255 mm TL subadult male, Da-xi ; AZISP 70354 (4 specs.), 285 mm TL immature female, 366, 340 and 258 mm TL adult and immature males ; CAS 15846 ; CAS 15918 (4 specs.) ; CAS 30991 ; CAS 34208 ; MCZ 45 ; NMMBP 6318 (2 spec.), 300 mm TL adult male, 124 mm TL juvenile male, Dong-gang , 3 Apr. 1960; NMMBP 6324 (2 spec.), Kaohsiung , 23 Jan. 1960; NMMBP 6326 , Penghu , 17 Jul. 1960; NMMBP 6327, 291 mm TL adult male, Ting-Kang , Nov. 1962; NMMBP 11105, 228 mm TL juvenile male, Nan-fang-ao , 18 Nov. 2009; NMMBP 11615, 335 mm TL adult male; NMMBP 12653 (5 spec.), 326 and 282 mm TL adult males, 3 juveniles, Dong-gnag ; NTUM 00006 , 223 mm TL, Penghu , 2 Nov. 1961; NTUM 00023 , 258 mm TL, Penghu , Oct. 1969; NTUM 01642 , 285 mm TL, Nan-fangao , 23 Dec. 1972; NTUM 01648 , 270 mm TL, Tam-Shui , Taipei , 6 Oct. 1972; NTUM 04454 , Da-xi , Oct. 1982; NTUM 04455 , 369 mm TL, Da-xi , Oct. 1982; NTUM 05023 ; USNM 192574 (3 spec.), 200 mm TL, Penghu .

Remarks: Information on the original description, including lack of type material, is from Carvalho (1999b; but see also Whitehead, 1970). Separation of N. lingula and N. maculata is very difficult and still tentative, representing probably the greatest problem in identifying Indo-Pacific Narcine species ( Carvalho, 1999b) . We have provisionally identified all material from Taiwan fitting the descriptions of N. lingula and N. maculata as N. lingula . Both species are separated by details of nostril and nasal curtain proportions, but these characters may prove insufficient. Previous works on Taiwanese chondrichthyans usually recognize three species of Narcine , N. timlei , N. maculata and N. lingula , or a combination of two of these (e.g. Teng, 1962; Chen & Chung, 1971; Chen & Joung, 1993). The former species, which is a small species with a uniform brown color, small eyes and usually a very distinct angular disc shape ( Carvalho, 1999b), has been incorrectly identified in all previous accounts, and is not present in Taiwanese collections.

Conservation status: Data Deficient.