Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: A New Species of the Frogfish Genus Histiophryne Gill (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae: Histiophryninae) from Western and South Australia, with a Revised Key to Congeners
An undescribed species of the frogfish genus Histiophryne, of the teleost order Lophiiformes, family Antennariidae, is described on the basis of 60 specimens collected from shallow inshore waters of Western and South Australia. Previously confused with its morphologically similar congener H. cryptacanthus, it differs from the latter and from all other members of the genus in having the following combination of features: illicium tiny but easily discernible without aid of a microscope; esca present, a small tuft of filaments, easily distinguished from illicium; skin covered with tiny dermal spinules, especially on head, cutaneous filaments and appendages absent; dorsal-fin rays 15–16; pectoral-fin rays 9 (rarely 8); vertebrae 22–23; head, body, and fins typically off white, sometimes peppered with numerous small, close-set ocelli. Genetic divergence from its congeners in the nuclear recombination activation gene-2 (RAG2) and cytochrome oxidase-I (COI) genes is at least 8.9%. The new species is diagnosed, described, and compared with its congeners. A revised key to the species of the genus is also provided.
Histiophryne narungga, new species: (A) holotype, SAMA F.13936, 74 mm, Port Lincoln, Spencer Gulf, South Australia (right side reversed); (B) paratype, WAM P.28513-002, 36 mm, John Island, Duke of Orleans Bay, Western Australia.
Histiophryne narungga, new species, uncollected specimen, Edithburgh, South Australia. Photo courtesy of Scott W. Michael.
Histiophryne narungga, new species, uncollected specimens, all from Edithburgh, South Australia: (A–C) photos courtesy of Scott W. Michael; (D, E) photos courtesy of Rudie H. Kuiter.
Scanning electron micrograph of dermal spinules of Histiophryne narungga, AMS I.16170-001, 45 mm SL, Cape Donington, Port Lincoln, South Australia.
Relationship between illicium length and standard length for three species of Histiophryne: H. bougainvilli (blue), n = 11; H. maggiewalker (yellow), n = 10; H. narungga (red), n = 43.
Fifty percent majority rule phylogeny of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene, from trees sampled in the posterior, generated from Bayesian analysis. Branch lengths are measured in expected substitutions per site and are proportional to length. Numbers above nodes are posterior probabilities.
Distribution of species of Histiophryne: H. bougainvilli, New South Wales, Australia (white); H. cryptacanthus, Taiwan to southern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (red); H. maggiewalker, Queensland, Australia (blue); H. pogonius Philippines to southern Indonesia (yellow); H. psychedelica, Ambon Island, Indonesia (black). A single symbol may indicate more than one capture.
Contributor Notes
Associate Editor: M. T. Craig.