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Issue: Vol. 2289 No. 1: 13 Nov. 2009
Type: Articles
Published: 2009-11-13
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2289.1.6
Page range: 61–67
Abstract views: 85
PDF downloaded: 19

Comments on the snake-eel genus Xyrias (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of a new species

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. 94118
Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan Ocean University, No. 2, Pei-Ning Road, Keelung, Taiwan 202, R.O.C
Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan Ocean University, No. 2, Pei-Ning Road, Keelung, Taiwan 202, R.O.C
Fish Ophichthidae Xyrias new species Taiwan

Abstract

Comments on the snake-eel genus Xyrias (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of a new species. Xyrias chioui, a new robust snake-eel species, subfamily Ophichthinae, is described on the basis of a specimen caught at 60–70 m depth on a benthic longline off Changbin, Taitung County, eastern Taiwan. It is distinguished from its congeners by having fewer vertebrae (126), 3 postorbital cephalic pores, and biserial rather than multiserial mandibular dentition. A key to the species of Xyrias is provided. Additional records of X. revulsus from the Arafura Sea and off New South Wales, Australia, extend its depth range from a few to 300 meters. The generic diagnosis of Xyrias is expanded such that the maxillary dentition ranges from a biserial to a multiserial condition.

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