Abstract
A new genus and species of catshark is described based on a single specimen collected off Ambon in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. Akheilos suwartanai belongs to the subfamily Schroederichthyinae which differs from the other catsharks in a combination of: similar sized dorsal fins, supraorbital crests present, pseudosiphon present on claspers, broad subocular ridges under eyes, posterior nasal flaps present, tips of rostral cartilage fused into a rostral node. It represents the first record of this subfamily outside of the Americas. Akheilos differs from the other genus in the subfamily, Schroederichthys in a combination of: clasper groove not fused dorsally, ventral lobe of caudal fin produced, more intestinal valve turns, anal fin slightly larger than second dorsal fin, and in colour pattern.
References
Bigelow, H.B. & Schroeder, W.C. (1941) Cephalurus, a new genus of scyliorhinid shark with redescription of the genotype, Catulus cephalus Gilbert. Copeia, 1941, 73–76.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1437434
Blainville, H. de (1816) Prodrome d’une nouvelle distribution systématique du règne animal. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris, 8, 105–112 [sic for 113–120] +121–124.
Compagno, L.J.V. (1984) FAO species catalogue. Vol.4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 125, 4 (Part 2), 251–655.
Compagno, L.J.V. (1988) Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 486 pp.
Fowler, H.W. (1934) Descriptions of new fishes obtained 1907 to 1910, chiefly in the Philippine Islands and adjacent seas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 85, 233–367.
Garman, S. (1906) New Plagiostomia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 46, 203–208.
Garman, S. (1913) The Plagiostomia (sharks, skates, and rays). Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 36, 1–515.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.43732
Gill, T.N. (1862) Analytical synopsis of the order of Squali; and revision of the nomenclature of the genera. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, 7 (32), 367–408.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1862.tb00166.x
Gomes, U.L., Peters, G.O., de Carvalho, M.R. & Gadig, O.B.F. (2006) Anatomical investigation of the slender catshark Schroederichthys tenuis Springer, 1966, with notes on intrageneric relationships (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae). Zootaxa, 1119 (1), 29–58.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1119.1.2
Guichenot, A. (1848) Fauna Chilena. Peces. In: Gay, C. (Ed.), Historia fisica y politica de Chile. Zoología. Vol. 2. Paris & Santiago, pp. 137–370.
Iglésias, S.P., Lecointre, G. & Sellos, D.Y. (2005) Extensive paraphylies within sharks of the order Carcharhiniformes inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 34, 569–583.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.022
Müller, J. & Henle, F.G.J. (1838) Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Veit und Comp., Berlin, 28 pp.
Nakaya, K., Sato, K., Iglésias, S.P. & White, W.T. (2008) Methodology for the taxonomic description of members of the genus Apristurus (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae), In: Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (Eds.), Descriptions of new Australian chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper, 022, pp. 49–60.
Rafinesque, C.S. (1810) Caratteri di alcuni nuovi generi e nuove specie di animali e piante della Sicilia, con varie osservazioni sopra i medisimi. Part 1. Sanfilippo, Palermo, 67 pp. [pp. 3–69]
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.104418
Séret, B. (1987) Halaelurus clevai, sp. n., a new species of catshark (Scyliorhinidae) from off Madagascar, with remarks on the taxonomic status of the genera Halaelurus Gill & Galeus Rafinesque. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology Special Publication, 44, 1–27.
Smith, A. (1838) On the necessity for a revision of the groups included in the Linnean genus Squalus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 5, 85–86.
Smith, H.M. (1912) Description of a new notidanoid shark from the Philippine Islands representing a new family. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 41, 489–491.
https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.41-1872.489
Soto, J.M.R. (2001) Schroederichthys saurisqualus sp. nov. (Carcharhiniformes, Scyliorhinidae), a new species of catshark from southern Brazil, with further data on Schroederichthys species. Mare Magnum, 1, 37–50.
Springer, S. (1966) A review of Western Atlantic cat sharks, Scyliorhinidae, with descriptions of a new genus and five new species. Fishery Bulletin United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 65, 581–624.
Springer, S. (1979) A revision of the catsharks, family Scyliorhinidae. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Technical Report, NMFS Circular, 422, 1–152.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.63029
Springer, V.G. & Garrick, J.A.F. (1964) A survey of vertebral numbers in sharks. Proceedings of the United States Natural Museum, 115, 559–632.
https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.116-3496.73
Weigmann, S. (2016) Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. Journal of Fish Biology, 88, 837–1037.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12874
Weigmann, S. (2017) Reply to Borsa (2017): Comment on ‘Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity by Weigmann (2016)’. Journal of Fish Biology, 90, 1176–1181.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13234
Weigmann, S., Kaschner, C.J. & Thiel, R. (2018) A new microendemic species of the deep-water catshark genus Bythaelurus (Carcharhiniformes, Pentanchidae) from the northwestern Indian Ocean, with investigations of its feeding ecology, generic review and identification key. PLOS ONE, 13, 1–51.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207887
White, E.G. (1936) A classification and phylogeny of the elasmobranch fishes. American Museum Novitates, 837, 1–16.
White, W.T., Last, P.R., Stevens, J.D., Yearsley, G.K., Fahmi & Dharmadi (2006) Economically important sharks and rays of Indonesia. ACIAR Publishing, Canberra, 329 pp.
Whitley, G.P. (1928) Studies in ichthyology. No. 2. Records of the Australian Museum, 16, 211–239.
https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.16.1928.786
Whitley, G.P. (1939) Taxonomic notes on sharks and rays. Australian Zoologist, 9, 227–262.