Common Name
Unmarked Plunderfish
Year Described
Eakin, 1988
Identification
Dorsal Fin: II, 27
Anal Fin: 17
Pectoral Fin: 19-20
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Caudal Fin: 8-11 (branched rays)
Gill Rakers: 18 (total in first arch)
Branchiostegal rays: 5
Upper Lateral Line Scales: 19 (tubular anteriorly, disc-shaped posteriorly)
Middle Lateral Line Scale: 17-19 (disc-shaped anteriorly and tube-shaped posteriorly)
Vertebrae: 37
An “albipinna group” plunderfish. Body elongate, flattened ventrally, with a large and wide head. Post-temporal ridges not developed. Eyes large. Snout flattened; length equal to orbit. Interorbital wide. Two dorsal fins: one a very small spiny fin over opercle and the other a long-based fin consisting of rays. Second dorsal fairly low. Anal fin short in height with origin well behind dorsal origin. Pectoral fin large and fan-shaped. Pelvic fin jugular, rounded and fairly long. Caudal fin rounded. Mouth reaching beyond middle or orbit; protractile. Jaws with small teeth. No teeth on vomer or palate. Upper opercular edge with a pointed, hook-like projection. Body naked. Two lateral lines: one on the upper body ending under the posterior dorsal fin and the other on the lateral midline on the rear body and caudal peduncle. Mental barbel very long (1.6 in HL) with terminal extension twice as wide as stalk (length 40% of TL of barbel). Terminal extension with rounded papillae.
Description based on single juvenile specimen.
Color
Single known specimen entirely pale over head, fins, and mental barbel.
Size
Holotype: 67mm TL
Habitat
Taken from 884-915m. Bottom dwelling.
Range
Sub-Antarctic: only known from the S. Shetland Is.
References
Balushkin, A.V. and R. Eakin. 1998. A new toad plunderfish Pogonophryne fusca sp. nova (Fam. Artedidraconidae: Notothenioidei) with notes on species composition and species groups in the genus Pogonophryne Regan. J. Ichthyol. 38(8):574-579.
Eakin, R.R. 1990. Artedidraconidae. p. 332-356. In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa.
Other Notes
Known only from the holotype