Aplodactylus Valenciennes

Russell, Barry C., 2000, Review of the southern temperate ® sh family Aplodactylidae (Pisces: Perciformes), Journal of Natural History 34 (11), pp. 2157-2171 : 2158-2159

Genus Aplodactylus Valenciennes

Aplodactylus Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1832: 476 ( Aplodactylus punctatus Valenciennes , by monotypy).

Mñandrites: Solander ms in Richardson, 1843: 16 (name in synonymy of Aplodactylus meandratus Richardson , preoccupied by Meandrites Guettard, 1770 Ða genus of corals).

Haplodactylus Agassiz, 1846: 172 (unjusti®ed emendation of Aplodactylus Valenciennes ).

Dactylosargus Gill, 1862: 110 ( Aplodactylus arctidens Richardson , by original designation).

Crinodus Gill, 1862: 112 ( Haplodactylus lophodon GuÈnther , by original designation).

Parhaplodactylus Thominot, 1883: 140 ( Parhaplodactylus marmoratus Thominot , by original designation).

Diagnosis

Dorsal-®n rays XV±XVIII, 16±21; anal-®n rays III, 6±9; pectoral-®n rays i, 12±15; lateral-line scales 72±120; gill rakers 17±25; vertebrae 15±16 1 18±20 5 34±35; epipleural ribs on ®rst 11±15 vertebrae.

Body elongate; snout short; dorsal pro®le of head rounded or obtusely angled in front of eye, snout and nape subtending an angle of about 135ss; eye small; interorbital space concave, convex or straight medially; base of dorsal ®n long, with elongate notch between spinous and soft parts of ®n; anal ®n short; pectoral-®ns large, lower ®ve to six rays simple, ¯eshy; pelvic ®ns large, rays ¯eshy.

Mouth small, somewhat ventral on head; lips ¯eshy, upper lip projecting, maxilla reaching a vertical through posterior nostril; teeth small, lanceolate, tricuspid or multicuspid, in three to six rows in jaws, outermost row of teeth largest; vomerine teeth present or absent; two pairs of nostrils, anterior pair with ¯eshy tentaculate or ®mbriate ¯aps on anteroventral margin and posteroventral margin; opercle with broad ¯at spine which does not extend to the ¯eshy margin; scales small, cycloid, embedded, extending on to cheeks and opercles, and forming a sheath along base of spinous dorsal ®n.

Colour. Slatey grey, brown or greenish with darker markings and whitish reticulations or spots on body and ®ns.

Relationships. The only morphological characters separating Crinodus lophodon GuÈnther from species of the nominal genera Aplodactylus and Dactylosargus are its larger scales and the absence of vomerine teeth. Neither of these characters is considered to warrant separate generic recognition and for this reason the monotypi c genus Crinodus is here regarded as a synonym of Aplodactylus .

The inclusion of Crinodus within Aplodactylus is supported by work on the molecular phylogeny of the family ( Burridge, 2000). Phylogenetic analysis of aplodactylid and outgroup mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome oxidase b sequences indicate the New Zealand ±south-east Australian species, Aplodactylus arctidens Richardson and the South American species, A. punctatus Valenciennes , are sister taxa in a monophyletic clade with the Western Australian species, A. westralis Russell ; with the eastern Australian species, A. lophodon (GuÈnther) , and New Zealand and south-western Paci®c species, A. etheridgii (Ogilby) , either clustered as sister taxa or successively removed from the other three aplodactylids, with A. lophodon basal ( Burridge, 2000). Phylogenetic relationships suggest that the Aplodactylidae originated in the Australia ± New Zealand region, with the majority of radiation occurring prior to the family achieving representation in South America ( Burridge, 2000).