Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: Nov 03, 2022

A Novel Association between Larval and Juvenile Erythrocles schlegelii (Teleostei: Emmelichthyidae) and Pelagic Tunicates

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Page Range: 675 – 679
DOI: 10.1643/i2022008
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We describe the first documented associations between an emmelichthyid and a pelagic tunicate. An in situ observation of larval and juvenile Japanese Rubyfish, Erythrocles schlegelii (Emmelichthyidae) was made during blackwater scuba dives in the epipelagic waters off the coast of the Philippines. The fish were in close association with the pelagic salp Pegea confoederata (Thaliacea; Salpidae), either drifting alongside a colony of salps or residing inside individual salp cavities. Our results describe and illustrate this behavior, highlighting a previously undocumented family of fishes that associates with pelagic gelatinous invertebrates. This finding also demonstrates the importance of community science to further our understanding of the early life history of marine fishes.

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Copyright: © 2022 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.

The emmelichthyid Erythrocles schlegelii inside salps. (A) Larvae, November 13, 2021; (B) larvae, December 26, 2018; (C) juvenile, March 16, 2020. All photos by M. Bartick.


Contributor Notes

Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20560; Email: (MNLP) murilopastana@gmail.com; and (MGG) GirardMG@si.edu. ORCID: (MNLP) 0000-0003-3906-0863; (MGG) 0000-0003-3580-6808; and (GDJ) 0000-0003-4339-6589. Send correspondence to MNLP.
Laboratório de Ictiologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, 481 Nazaré Avenue, São Paulo, 04263, Brazil.
Biodiversity Institute, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.
Crystal Blue Resort, PV5G+59G, Batangas, Anilao, Philippines.
Received: Jan 13, 2022
Accepted: Aug 15, 2022