Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Articles
Published: 2005-01-07
Page range: 1–11
Abstract views: 164
PDF downloaded: 3

Notes on the snake eels of the genera Apterichtus and Ichthyapus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) of the Central and South Pacific, with the description of a new species

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California 94103-3098
Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-2704
Pisces Eels Apterichtus australis new species Apterichtus klazingai Ichthyapus acutirostris Ichthyapus platyrhynchus Ichthyapus vulturis Rapa Easter Island Pitcairn Island Kermadec Island Hawaii

Abstract

Apterichtus australis, new species, collected by dredge and rotenone in 12–100 m is described from Rapa, Pitcairn, Easter and Kermadec islands. It is closely related to A. flavicaudus (Snyder) but differs from it and all congeners in its high vertebral number, cephalic pore condition, and dentition. Ichthyapus from Easter Island and Pitcairn are recognized as I. acutirostris Brisout de Barneville. Caecula (Sphagebranchus) platyrhyncha Gosline from Hawaii is resurrected from the synonymy of I. vulturis (Weber & de Beaufort). First records of I. vulturis and Apterichtus klazingai (Weber) from Hawaii are reported.

References

  1. Blache, J. & Bauchot, M.L. (1972) Contribution à la connaissance des Poissons Anguilliformes de la côte occidentale d'Afrique. Bulletin de l'IFAN, sér. A, 34(3), 692–773.

    Brisout de Barneville, C.N.F. (1847) Note sur un nouveau genre d'Anguilliformes. Revue Zoologique, 1847, 219–220.

    Gosline, W.A. (1951) The osteology and classification of the ophichthid eels of the Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Science, 5 (4), 298–320.

    Hatooka, K., Yoshino, T. & Ono, A. (1995) A rare ophichthid eel, Ichthyapus vulturis, from Izu Peninsula, Japan (Pisces: Ophichthidae). Bulletin of the Osaka Museum of Natural History, 1995 (49), 19–22.

    Leviton, A.E., Gibbs, R.H., Jr., Heal, E. & Dawson, C.E. (1985) Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resources collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia, 1985, 802–832.

    Machida, Y. & Ohta, S. (1993) Second specimen of the snake-eel Apterichtus moseri (Ophichthinae, Ophichthidae). Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 40 (1), 103–106.

    Machida, Y. & Ohta, S. (1994) A new snake-eel, Apterichtus orientalis, from the Pacific coast of western Japan (Ophichthinae, Ophichthidae). Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 41(1), 1–5.

    Machida, Y., Hashimoto, H. & Yamakawa, T. (1997) Apterichtus keramanus, a new snake-eel from Okinawa, southern Japan (Ophichthinae, Ophichthidae). Ichthyological Research, 44 (1), 27–33.

    McCosker, J.E. (1977) The osteology, classification, and relationships of the eel family Ophichthidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 4, 41 (1), 1–123.

    McCosker, J.E. (2004) A new species of finless snake eel (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from Ascension Island, with comments on Ichthyapus acutirostris. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 55 (7), 169–173.

    McCosker, J.E., Böhlke, E.B. & Böhlke, J.E. (1989) Family Ophichthidae. In: Böhlke, E.B. (Ed.)

    Fishes of the Western North Atlantic, Part Nine, Vol. One: Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University, New Haven, pp. 254–412.

    Randall, J.E. & McCosker, J.E. (1975) The eels of Easter Island with a description of a new moray.

    Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Contributions in Science, 264, 1–32.

    Randall, J.E., Smith, C.L. & Feinberg, M.N. (1990) Report on fish collections from Rapa, French Polynesia. American Museum Novitates, 2966, 1–42.

    Snyder, J.O. (1904) A catalogue of the shore fishes collected by the steamer Albatross about the Hawaiian Islands in 1902. Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission, for 1902, 22, 513–538.

    Weber, M. (1913) Die Fische der Siboga-Expedition. E.J. Brill, Leiden. 710 pp.

    Weber, M. & de Beaufort, L.F. (1916) Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Vol. 3. Ostarophysi: II Cyprinoidea, Apodes, Synbranchi. E. J. Brill, Leiden, 455 pp.