A revision of the abandoned snailfish genus Menziesichthys with description of a new species (Teleostei, Scorpaeniformes, Liparidae)

Abstract

The genus Menziesichthys is revised and re-diagnosed, its type-species, M. bacescui, is redescribed and a new species is described. Menziesichthys shares intermediate morphological characters between the genera Psednos and Rhodichthys. It is unique within all liparid genera in the combination of strongly humpbacked body, uninterrupted infraorbital canal with huge pore openings, relative position of sec- ond nasal pore and nostril, very large gill slits, and diminutive size of adult specimens. A new species, M. alaid, is described from the Sea of Okhotsk off the northern Kuriles. It differs from the type-species (distributed in the southeastern Pacific) in having a lower pectoral-fin ray count, more anteriorly situ- ated anus, minute (vs. well-developed) protrusion at the posterior end of the maxilla and in other minor characters.

Amphiboreality and Distribution of Snailfishes (Cottiformes: Liparidae) in the Arctic and the North Atlantic

“…Until recently, there was not even an assumption about forms close to it. Then, the abandoned snailfish genus Menziesichthys was restored (based on M. bacescui from the Peru-Chile Trench, 1296-1317 m), and even the second species M. alaid was described from the area of the Kuril Islands (Sea of Okhotsk, 820 m) [130]. These fishes share some unique morphological characters with the Rhodichthys, e.g.…”