Spectrunculus crassus ( Vaillant, 1888 )

Uiblein, Franz, Møller, Peter R. & Nielsen, Jørgen G., 2023, The Systematics of the Ophidiid Genus Spectrunculus (Teleostei, Ophidiiformes) Revisited with Description of a New Species and Resurrection of S. radcliffei, Ichthyology & Herpetology 111 (3), pp. 467-485 : 470-474

Spectrunculus crassus ( Vaillant, 1888)

Figures 1–4 , Tables 2 –5

Bythites crassus Vaillant, 1888: 279 (type locality NE Atlantic, 44820 0 N, 17811 0 W).

Bassogigas coheni Mayer and Nalbant, 1972: 163 (type locality SE Pacific, 8823 0 S, 80825 0 W).

Spectrunculus grandis non (G unther €, 1877) in part: Nielsen and Hureau, 1980.

Spectrunculus crassus Uiblein et al., 2008 ; Hanke et al., 2015.

Holotype.— MNHN 1986-0552 , 284 mm SL (light brown; described as dark brown in original description by Vaillant, 1888), NE Atlantic, 44820 0 N, 17811 0 W, R / V TALISMAN , sta. 136, 4255 m depth, 26 August 1883 .

Non-type material.— N Atlantic (n ¼ 49): MNHN 1979-0221 , 329 mm SL (pale), 56838 0 N, 1186 0 W , R / V J. CHARCOT, sta. 2721, 2466 m depth, 17 July 1976 ; MNHN 1979-0222 , 142 mm SL (light brown), 56838 0 N, 1186 0 W , R / V J. CHARCOT, sta. 2721, 2466 m depth, 17 July 1976 ; MNHN 1979-0223 , 280 mm SL (light brown), 56833 0 N, 11811 0 W , R / V J. CHARCOT, sta. 2721, 2483–2513 m depth, 17 July 1976 ; MNHN 1979-0224 , 400 mm SL (dark), 56833 0 0 00 N, 11810 0 58.8 00 W, J. CHARCOT, sta. Cp04, 2483–2513 m, 17 July 1976 ; MNHN 1999-0708 , 327 mm SL (light brown), 56815 0 N, 10816 0 W , R / V N.O. THALASSA, 2020 m depth, 27 April 1999 ; ZMUB 18351 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 8081), female, 250 mm SL (dark) , ZMUB 18352 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 8067), male, 253 mm SL (light brown), 42854.91 0 N, 30820.37 0 W to 42853.11 0 N, 30820.92 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 40-367, bottom trawl, 2660–2670 m depth, 7 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18353 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 13053), male, 216 mm SL (light brown) , ZMUB 18354 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 2679), 2 females, 240–282 mm SL, male, 260 mm SL (all dark) , ZMUB 18355 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 12419), female, 187 mm SL (light brown), 42855.32 0 N, 2888.35 0 W to 42853.05 0 N, 2888.33 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 52-374, bottom trawl, 2973–2979 m depth, 13 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18356 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 11582), male, 220 mm SL (light brown), 53816.8 0 N, 35831.8 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 72-386, bottom trawl, 2522–2567 m depth, 27 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18463 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 12291), 3 males, 482–522 mm SL, 1 unsexed specimen, 522 mm SL (all dark), 42848.6 0 N, 29838.36 0 W to 42846.64 0 N, 29838.59 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 42-368, bottom trawl, 2063–2107 m depth, 8 July 2004; ZMUB 18464 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 10891), 3 females, 435–575 mm SL (all dark), 51855.08 0 N, 30825.02 0 W to 51856.14 0 N, 30824.44 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 62-380, bottom trawl, 1872–1959 m depth , 20 July 2004; ZMUB 18465 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 13807), female, 445 mm SL (light-brown speckled) , ZMUB 18466 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 13821), male, 420 mm SL, 7 females, 375–480 mm SL, 1 unsexed specimen, 405 mm SL (all dark), 5387.8 0 N, 34845.6 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, sta. 68-384, bottom trawl, 2306– 2374 m depth , 25 July 2004; ZMUB 18467 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 20275), female, 490 mm SL , ZMUB 18468 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 20261), female, 465 mm SL , ZMUB 18469 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 20247), female, 480 mm SL (all dark), 42825.49 0 N, 29848.14 0 W to 42825.49 0 N, 29846.13 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 13, bottom longline, 2429– 2018 m depth , 8 July 2004; ZMUB 18470 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 17133), female, 510 mm SL (dark), 42823.26 0 N, 29859.71 0 W to 42824.88 0 N, 3080 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 15, bottom longline, 2650–2675 m depth, 9 July 2004; ZMUB 18471 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 16433), 470 mm SL , ZMUB 18472 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 16419), 510 mm SL , ZMUB 18473 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 16405), female, 475 mm SL (dark), 42837.77 0 N, 28822.18 0 W to 42837.58 0 N, 28819.16 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 5, bottom longline, 2125–2436 m depth, 6 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18474 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 17119), female, 480 mm SL (dark), 42825.49 0 N, 29848.14 0 W to 42825.49 0 N, 29846.13 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 13, bottom longline, 2429– 2018 m depth, 8 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18475 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 17189), female, 330 mm SL (dark), 42836.14 0 N, 29820.05 0 W to 42837.82 0 N, 29819.51 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 16, bottom longline, 3366– 3280 m depth, 9 July 2004 ; ZMUB 18476 (ZMUB-MAR-ECO 17393), female, 522 mm SL (dark), 42825.33 0 N, 29838.2 0 W to 42825.37 0 N, 29840.42 0 W, M/S LORAN, sta. 12, bottom longline, 1580–1964 m depth, 8 July 2004 ; ZMUB 19505 ( ZMUB MAR-ECO 9757 ), 5 females, 455–540 mm SL, 2 unsexed specimens, 476–530 mm SL (all dark), 51827.02 0 N, 29819.73 0 W to 51828.02 0 N, 29819.54 0 W , R / V G.O. SARS, st. 56- 378, bottom trawl, 1872–1950 m depth, 17 July 2004 ; ZMUC P 77797, 500 mm SL (dark), 43839.3 0 N, 22837.8 0 W, R / V WALTHER HERWIG, sta. 82-352, beam trawl, 1900–2080 m depth, 8 June 1982 ; ZMUC P77805 , female, 490 mm SL (dark), 43833.6 0 N, 22833.4 0 W , R / V WALTHER HERWIG, sta. 82-350, beam trawl, 1800–1970 m depth, 8 June 1982 .

n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Max SW Pacific Mean 60 54 40 11 18 74 27 Min n 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Ocean Max 61 74 47 14 22 67 29 S Indian Mean 58.1 69.9 46.1 12.5 21.6 66.0 27.2 Min 55 67 44 12 20 64 26 n 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 Atlantic Max 71 81 58 16 25 79 29 PTs, N Mean 56.6 69.0 50.2 12.1 21.5 73.0 24.1 Min 44 60 45 9 15 67 19 HT N Atlantic 54 64 45 12 22 71 26 In % otolith length Otolith height Sulcus length Ostium length Ostium width Ostium width in % Otolith height Sulcus length Ostium length

S Atlantic (n ¼ 2): MNHN 1979-0227 , 282 mm SL (light brown), 32829 0 S, 13826 0 E, R / V J. CHARCOT, sta. 4736, 3677 m depth, 13 January 1979 ; SAM MB-F042004 , 128 mm SL (light brown), 33849 0 S, 16830 0 E, ca. 2743 m depth .

NE Pacific, off Oregon (n ¼ 5): CAS-ICH 36991, female (?), 458 mm SL (dark), 44837 0 24 00 N, 125839 0 54 00 W to 44837 0 18 00 N, 125841 0 6 00 W, 2816 m depth, beam trawl, 13 April 1976; CAS-ICH 40222 , male, 334 mm SL (dark), Cascadia Abyssal Plain, 4589 0 18 00 N, 125838 0 18 00 W to 45810 0 30 00 N, 125838 0 0 00 W, 2669 m depth, beam trawl ; CAS-ICH 62977 , male, 362 mm SL (dark), Cascadia Abyssal Plain, 47850 0 30 00 N, 12782 0 36 00 W, 2519 m depth, beam trawl ; OSUO 11743, 345 mm SL (light brown), 44840 0 N, 12680 0 W, 2800 m depth, 21 August 1965 ; OSUO 11775, 239 mm SL (light brown), 45831.7 0 N, 127828.4 0 W, 2800 m depth, 4 February 1973 .

SE Pacific: NHMB 191 , HT of Spectrunculus coheni , 106 mm SL (dark), 8823 0 S, 80825 0 W, R / V ANTON BRUUN, beam trawl, 2945–2966 m depth, 31 October 1965 .

Diagnosis.— Number of dorsal-fin rays 121–131, anal-fin rays 91–102, total vertebrae 72–79, pre-anal length 42–54% in SL, pelvic- to anal-fin origin 29–41% in SL, orbit length 12– 17 in % HL, otolith ostium width 22–30 in % sulcus length and 31–40 in % ostium length; dark-brown body, head, and fins in larger, fresh, or recently collected fish; juveniles lighter colored with dark unpaired fins; longer-preserved specimens mostly light brown, paler than when fresh; maximum size to 60 cm SL.

Description.— The most important meristic and morphometric characters as well as the otolith characters are shown in Tables 2 –5. Body elongate, laterally compressed, tapering towards tail. Pectoral-fin depth 6.9–8.3 times in SL, tail length 1.78–1.86 times in SL, and preanal length 1.16–1.33 times in tail length. Head length 4.6–5.6 in SL and 2.00– 2.72 in preanal length; head depth through eye 8.2–11 times in SL. Orbit circular, shorter than snout, 1.56–2.26 times in snout length. Anterior gill arch with 8–10 long and 8–12 rudimentary rakers. Pseudobranchial filaments 0–2.

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Figures

FIG. 1. (A–C) Spectrunculus stenostio: (A) HT, ZMUB 18493, 825 mm SL, N Atlantic (F. Uiblein); (B) SAIAB 11892, 706 mm SL, S Indian Ocean (F. Uiblein); (C) NMNZ P.033111, 1030 mm SL, SW Pacific (P. R. Møller). (D–F) S. crassus: (D) ZMUB 18355, 187 mm SL, N Atlantic (MAR-ECO cruise); (E) HT, MNHN 1886-0552, 284 mm SL, N Atlantic (J. Pfliger); (F) ZMUB 18463, 500 mm SL, N Atlantic (MAR-ECO cruise); (G–I) S. grandis: (G) HT, BMNH 1887, 675 mm SL (F. Uiblein); (H) NMNZ P.041204, 840 mm SL, SW Pacific (P. R. Møller); (I) CAS 25724, 1270 mm SL, NE Pacific (Moulin Studios, San Francisco, used with permission); (J–M) S. radcliffei: (J) HT (postlarva), FMNH 57123, 56 mm SL, NW Pacific (FMNH Zoological Collections, used with permission); (K) SAM 47240, 541 mm SL, S Atlantic (F. Uiblein); (L) ZMUC P2397445, 945 mm SL, NW Pacific (M. A. Krag); (M) ZMUC P2397724, 1020 mm SL, NW Pacific (M. A. Krag). Length of black or white scale bars is 5 cm.

FIG. 2. Distribution map showing the occurrence of studied specimens of the genus Spectrunculus. For areas with multiple occurrences, numbers are added to the respective symbols. Type localities are indicated by filled symbols.

FIG. 3. Images of otoliths of Spectrunculus. (A) S. stenostio, ZMUB 18480, 670 mm SL, N Atlantic (F. Uiblein); (B) S. crassus, ZMUB 18464, 575 mm SL, N Atlantic (F. Uiblein); (C–E) S. grandis: (C) HT, BMNH 1887, 675 mm SL, NW Pacific (CT scan, B. Clark); (D) CAS 25724, 1270 mm SL, NE Pacific (F. Uiblein); (E) LACM 43564, 200 mm SL, SW Pacific (M. A. Krag); (F–H) S. radcliffei: (F) ZMUC P77704, 192 mm, S Atlantic (M. A. Krag); (G) ZMUC P2397445, 945 mm SL, NW Pacific (from left head side, shown sidereversed; M. A. Krag); (H) ZMUC P2397724, 1020 mm SL, NW Pacific (M. A. Krag). All otoliths from right side of head if not otherwise indicated. Dotted lines with arrows indicate the approximate measurement positions for ostium width (left side of figure) and sulcus length (right side of figure). Length of black or white scale bars is 5 mm.

FIG. 4. Relationships between morphological characters in the four species of Spectrunculus.