Himantolophus nigricornis Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988

Ho, Hsuan-Ching, Kawai, Toshio & Amaoka, Kunio, 2016, Records of deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) from Indonesia, with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 4121 (3), pp. 267-294 : 280-281

Himantolophus nigricornis Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988

Fig. 12

Himantolophus nigricornis Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988:50 , fig. 17 (type locality: San Clemente basin, off southern California). Pietsch, 2009:341.

Material. HUMZ 194476 (1, 116.0), st. 9, 8°19.1'S, 109°1.9'E – 8°18.9'S, 109°0.3'E, off Java, 814 m, 6 May 2005.

Description. Dorsal-fin ray 5; pectoral-fin rays 16 (right side)/17 (left side); anal-fin rays 4; caudal-fin rays 9. Head length 35.8% SL; head depth 42.7; head width 18.5; illicial length 65.5.

Body short, compressed, profile oval in lateral view. Head very high, becoming gradually narrower posteriorly to caudal peduncle. Sphenotic spines less developed, directed upward. Papillae well developed on snout and chin. One hundred dermal spines on body, 3 on pectoral-fin base (left side missing). Teeth less numerous compared to other congeners examined in this study, about 3 rows on upper jaw and 4 rows on lower jaw, those on lower jaw larger than those on upper jaw. Vomerine teeth not detectable. Dermal spines covering on illicial stem (except for the base), more scattered on esca, with posterior and distal appendages naked.

Esca with only single distal appendage, length 6.1% SL, and single posterior appendage, length 7.8% SL; both appendages undivided proximally and bifurcated distally, those branches simple. Pair of short simple appendages on illicial stem.

Body dark brown, papillae on median portions of snout and chin pale or less pigmented. Distal and posterior appendages darkly pigmented except for semi-transparent tips.

Distribution. Previously known from eastern Pacific Ocean off California and central north Pacific Ocean off Hawaii. New record from eastern Indian Ocean off Indonesia. Bathymetric range not available previously, whereas the Indonesian specimen was taken at a depth of 814 m.

Remarks. The original description was based on two specimens, a third specimen was recorded by Pietsch (2009). The Indian Ocean specimen is smaller than the previous three specimens and the following differences were observed: illicium relatively short, length 65.5% SL (vs. 70–87% SL in Pietsch, 2009) and the proximal portion of the posterior appendage is undivided (vs. bifurcated near the base).

Figures

FIGURE 12 Himantolophus nigricornis Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988, HUMZ 194476, 116.0 mm SL, fresh.