A New Deep-sea Eelpout, Hadropogonichthys leptopus (Osteichthyes: Perciformes: Zoarcidae), from the Pacific Ocean off Japan

Abstract

A new deep-sea eelpout, Hadropogonichthys leptopus, representing the second species in the genus, is described on the basis of 25 specimens from the Pacific Ocean off central and northern Honshu, Japan, at depths ranging from 1115 to 1948m. This species differs from H. lindbergi Fedorov, 1982 from the Fourth Kuril Strait, Russia, in having simple or bifid cirri in single rows on the mandibular canal and ventral branch of the suborbital canal, short and slender pelvic fins, three postorbital pores, 14-16 pectoral fin rays, and two nub-like pyloric caeca.