Short Reports
First Japanese record of Neobythites bimaculatus (Ophidiiformes, Ophidiidae) collected off Zanpa Cape, Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan
2015 Volume 62 Issue 1 Pages 59-64
Details
2015 Volume 62 Issue 1 Pages 59-64
Three specimens (39.9–161.0 mm SL) of an ophidiid genus Neobythites, were collected off Zanpa Cape, Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, in December 2012. The specimens were identified as Twospot cusk Neobythites bimaculatus Nielsen, 1997 in having two spines on the hind margin of the preopercle, pelvic fin rays not reaching the anus and two ocelli on the middle of the dorsal fin. Nielsen (2002) referred to a small specimen (73 mm SL) having two faint dark spots on the anal fin. The smallest specimen (39.9 mm SL) reported here, although smaller than Nielsen’s specimen, has no spots on the anal fin. This species was previously known from New Caledonia, Australia and the South China Sea. These specimens are the first record of the species from Japan.
