Ariosoma anago (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)

Smith, David G., Ho, Hsuan-Ching, Huang, Jian-Fu & Chang, Yong-Hsu, 2018, The congrid eel genus Ariosoma in Taiwan (Anguilliformes: Congridae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4454 (1), pp. 84-106 : 87-89

Ariosoma anago (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)

SILVERY SHORT-TAIL CONgER ; 白錐體糯鰻

FIgS. 2 , 3A ; TAbLE 1

Conger anago TEmmINck & ScHLEgEL, 1846:259 (TyPE LOcaLITy: NagaSakI, JaPaN) . JOrdaN & RIcHardSON, 1909:171.

Leptocephalus flavirostris SNydEr, 1908:93 (TyPE LOcaLITy MISakI, JaPaN).

Alloconger anagoides (NOT Of BLEEkEr, 1853): CHu, 1957:14; LEE & YaNg, 1966:54, fIg. 2; CHEN & WENg, 1967:45; CHEN, 1969:132; CHEN & Yu, 1986: 252; SHEN et al., 1993:115; SHaO et al., 1994:274.

Ariosoma anago : SHaO et al., 2008:239. HO et al., 2015a: TabLE 3. HO et al., 2015b:144.

Material examined. 5 SPEcIMENS, 355‒403 MM TL. TOU-AE 1612 (1, 388), SHANjIEN, CHANgbIN, TAITuNg, 14 JuN. 2005 . TOU-AE 1614 (1, 368), TOU-AE 5499 (1, 355), CHANgbIN, TAITuNg, 70‒400 M, 21 APR. 2010 . USNM 398749 (1, 403), CHANg-bIN, TAITuNg, 27 JuL. 2007 . OTHER LOcALITY. USNM 62230 (1, 370), HOLOTYPE Of Leptocephalus flavirostris , MISAkI, JAPAN, 30 OcT. 1908 .

Diagnosis. BODY bROWN; fOuR WHITISH bANDS AcROSS DARk bAckgROuND ON DORSAL AND LATERAL SuRfAcE Of HEAD; VERTIcAL fINS WITH VERY bROAD cONSPIcuOuS bLAck MARgIN; SNOuT RELATIVELY POINTED; PREANAL VERTEbRAE 54‒56, PREcAuDAL VERTEbRAE 71‒72, TOTAL VERTEbRAE 143‒144; AND PREANAL LATERAL-LINE PORES 53‒57 AND TOTAL PORES 136‒140.

Description. MORPHOMETRIc AND MERISTIc DATA PROVIDED IN TAbLE 1. BODY STOuT, ANuS SLIgHTLY bEfORE MIDLENgTH, DORSAL-fIN ORIgIN WELL bEfORE gILL OPENINg. JAWS MODERATELY LONg, uPPER jAW PROjEcTINg SLIgHTLY bEYOND TIP Of LOWER jAW, INTERMAxILLARY TEETH PARTLY cONcEALED WHEN MOuTH cLOSED. EYE WELL DEVELOPED, MIDDLE Of EYE OVER RIcTuS. SNOuT RELATIVELY POINTED.

TEETH SMALL, cONIcAL, MuLTISERIAL; MAxILLARY AND INTERMAxILLARY TEETH cONTINuOuS; MAxILLARY TEETH IN NARROW bAND, TEETH SHARP ON OuTER ROW(S) AND bLuNT ON INNER ROW(S). SMALL TEETH ON SPAcE bETWEEN INTERMAxILLARY AND VOMERINE TOOTH PATcHES. VOMERINE TEETH SHARP ANTERIORLY fOLLOWED bY AbOuT 3 ROWS Of LARgER, bLuNT TEETH, fORMINg A NARROW ELONgATE PATcH ENDINg bEHIND MIDPOINT Of MAxILLARY TOOTH PATcH.

BODY bROWN, SLIgHTLY PALER VENTRALLY, DORSAL AND ANAL fINS WITH VERY bROAD cONSPIcuOuS bLAck MARgINS, cAuDAL fIN WHITE WITH uPPER AND LOWER MARgINS bLAck. DORSAL SuRfAcE Of HEAD DARkER WITH fOuR WHITISH bANDS AcROSS LEVELS Of POSTERIOR NOSTRILS, ANTERIOR MARgIN Of EYES, SLIgHTLY POSTERIOR TO THE EYES, AND NAPE; VENTRAL SuRfAcE Of HEAD DENSELY PIgMENTED.

MAxIMuM SIzE ExcEEDINg 400 MM TL.

Remarks. ASANO (1962) REPORTED THIS SPEcIES fROM JAPAN uNDER THE NAME Alloconger anagoides (BLEEkER). THE SPEcIES TREATED IN THE SAME PAPER AS Anago anago HAS bEEN REIDENTIfIED AS Ariosoma meeki ( JORDAN & SNYDER, 1900).

THIS SPEcIES MOST cLOSELY RESEMbLES A. dolichopterum AND A. emmae sp. nov. IN THE cONSPIcuOuS bLAck fIN MARgINS AND THE WHITE bAND(S) AcROSS DORSAL SuRfAcE Of HEAD. IT DIffERS fROM THE fORMER MAINLY IN HAVINg MORE VERTEbRAE (143‒144, VS. 129‒134) AND A SHORTER PEcTORAL fIN; AND fROM THE LATTER IN HAVINg MORE VERTEbRAE (143‒144, VS. 127‒129) AND fOuR WHITISH bANDS AcROSS DORSAL SuRfAcE Of HEAD (VS. ONLY ONE bAND bEfORE THE EYES). IT DIffERS fROM A. majus bY THE MORE DISTINcT bANDS ON THE HEAD, THE cONSPIcuOuS bLAck MARgINS ON THE VERTIcAL fINS, AND SLIgHTLY MORE PREANAL VERTEbRAE (54‒56, VS. 51‒55).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ariosoma anago (TEmmINck & ScHLEgEL, 1846), USNM 398749, 403 mm TL. A. LaTEraL vIEW, PrESErvEd. B. LaTEraL vIEW Of HEad.

FIGURE 3. UPPEr-jaW TEETH Of Ariosoma SPEcIES. A. A. anago, TOU-AE5499. B. A. dolichopectrum, NMMB-P23477. C. A. emmae sp. nov., ParaTyPE, NMMB-P26426. D. A. fasciatum, NMMB-P23571. NOT TO ScaLE.