New case of lateral asymmetry in fishes: A new subfamily, genus and species of deep water clingfishes from Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The unusual clingfish Protogobiesox asymmetricus n. gen, n. sp. is described on the basis of four specimens collected in deep water off the north coast of Papua New Guinea in 2012. The species is characterized by its 9-10 dorsal rays, 8 anal rays, 17-24 pectoral-fin rays, 15 principal caudal-fin rays, 3 gills, third arch with 3 gill rakers, 34-35 total vertebrae, with asymmetrical lateral bending starting behind the skull, bent at an angle of 85°-92°; skull asymmetrical in frontal view; skin naked, surface of head and body without striae; disc without adhesive papillae. A new subfamily Protogobiesocinae is described for this species and Lepadicyathus mendeleevi Prokofiev, 2005, which is redescribed. The new subfamily is compared within the family; keys to the subfamilies of Gobiesocidae and the species within the new subfamily are presented; its phylogenetic relationship to other gobiesocids is inferred based on a multi-locus DNA dataset.

A new genus and species of clingfish from the Rangitāhua Kermadec Islands of New Zealand (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae)

“…Since 2010, this includes 19 new species (Fricke et al 2010, 2015, 2016; Allen and Erdman 2012; Moore et al 2012; Sparks and Gruber 2012; Conway et al 2014, 2017b, c, 2018; Fricke 2014; Craig et al 2015; Shinohara and Katayama 2015; Bilecenoğlu et al 2017; Fricke and Wirtz 2017; Hastings and Conway 2017; Fujiwara and Motomura 2018; Fujiwara et al 2018), three of which were also considered to represent new genera at the time of description (Fricke 2014; Fricke et al 2016; Conway et al 2017b). …”

First record of the Kermadec Clingfish, Flexor incus Conway, Stewart & Summers, 2018 (Gobiesocidae), from New Caledonia and Australia

“…More recently, the classification scheme of Briggs (1955) was revised by Conway et al (2020), who recognized nine subfamilies in the Gobiesocidae based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic investigation. According to them, the monotypic genus Flexor is assigned to the subfamily Diademichthyinae, which they expanded to include several additional genera formerly included in the Aspasminae, Diplocrepinae, and Protogobiesocinae by Briggs (1955) and Fricke et al (2016). Although Flexor was recovered as the sister taxon to Aspasmichthys ciconiae (Jordan & Fowler, 1902) in Conway et al's (2020) study, the former is superficially similar to Pherallodus Briggs 1955 [including Pherallodus indicus (Weber, 1913)] and Propherallodus Shiogaki & Dotsu 1983[including Propherallodus briggsi Shiogaki & Dotsu, 1983, Propherallodus longipterus Fujiwara & Motomura, 2018b, and Propherallodus smithi (Briggs, 1955].…”

Unravelling the taxonomy of an interstitial fish radiation: Three new species of Gouania (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from the Mediterranean Sea and redescriptions of G. willdenowi and G. pigra

“…Still, due to their cryptic ecology, it is not surprising that the majority of recent genus and species descriptions are based on the investigation of a few individuals only ( e.g ., Conway et al ., 2017b). Whereas some of these taxonomical and systematic studies use more classical approaches ( e.g ., Fricke, 2014; Fricke et al ., 2010, 2015; Fricke & Wirtz, 2017, 2018; Sparks & Gruber, 2012), many authors include more comprehensive morphological ( e.g ., micro‐computed tomography imaging) and/or genetic ( e.g ., single locus DNA barcoding) methods, which altogether turn out to be effective tools for delineating clingfish species ( e.g ., Almada et al ., 2008; Bilecenoğlu et al ., 2017; Conway et al ., 2014, 2017a–c, 2018, 2019; Fricke et al ., 2017; Fujiwara et al ., 2018; Fujiwara & Motomura, 2018a,b, 2019, 2020; Henriques et al ., 2002).…”