Common Name
Immaculate Plunderfish
Year Described
Eakin, 1981
Identification
Dorsal Fin: II-III, 27-28
Anal Fin: 17-19
Pectoral Fin: 19-20
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Caudal Fin: 10 (branched rays)
Gill Rakers: 12-16 (total in first arch)
Branchiostegal rays: 5
Upper Lateral Line Scales: 19-28 (tubular anteriorly, disc-shaped posteriorly)
Middle Lateral Line Scale: 12-29 (disc-shaped anteriorly and tube-shaped posteriorly)
Vertebrae: 37-38
An “albipinna group” plunderfish. Body elongate, flattened ventrally, with a large and wide head (jaw width 25% SL). Post-temporal ridges not well developed. Eyes large. Snout rounded; 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 about equal to dorsal in height with origin well behind dorsal origin. Pectoral fin large and fan-shaped. Pelvic fin jugular, rounded and short. Caudal fin truncate. Mouth reaching beyond middle or orbit; protractile. Lower jaw projects slightly. 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 mid-dorsal fin and the other on the lateral midline on the rear body and caudal peduncle. Mental barbel short (<10% SL) and tapered, with a small papillae at the base.
Color
Body unmarked brown, darkening laterally and ventrally. Dorsal and anal fins dark basally with irregular pale margins. Male with black on anterior dorsal fin and a white margin on the posterior dorsal fin. Caudal and pectoral fins dark with pale margins. Mental barbel white.
Size
Adults range from 22-27 cm SL.
Habitat
The deepest known species in the genus: collected at 1195-2600m. Bottom dwelling.
Range
Sub-Antarctic: known only from off the S. Orkney 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.
Eakin, R.R., J.T. Eastman, & T.J. Near. 2009. A new species and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Antarctic fish genus Pogonophryne (Notothenioidei: Artedidraconidae). Copeia. 2009: 705-713.