A new species of viviparous brotula genus Pseudogilbia (Ophidiiformes: Dinematichthyidae) from Brazilian reefs, with an updated diagnosis of the genus.

In this study, a new species of Pseudogilbia Møller, Schwarzhans & Nielsen 2004 is described based on two male specimens (40-44 mm LS ) from shallow reefs of Bahia, Brazil. Pseudogilbia australis sp. nov. is distinguished from its only congener, Pseudogilbia sanblasensis Møller, Schwarzhans & Nielsen 2004 from Caribbean Panama, by having: two lower preopercular pores (vs. one); dorsal-fin rays 65-67 (vs. 69); anal-fin rays 51-53 (vs. 56); pectoral-fin rays 18 (vs. 20); caudal vertebrae 27-28 (vs. 30); pectoral-fin length 15.0%-15.9% LS (vs. 14.3); pelvic-fin length 13.5% LS (vs. 16.4) and a different morphology of the male copulatory organ. Pseudogilbia australis sp. nov. is the only dinematichthyid so far recorded in the South Atlantic. An updated diagnosis for the genus is also provided.

Revision of the circumglobal deep-sea genus Leucicorus (Teleostei, Ophidiidae) with two new species.

The rare deepsea ophidiid genus Leucicorus was described by Garman (1899) based on L. lusciosus Garman, 1899 caught in the East Pacific. Until 1973 only three additional specimens were caught of which two from the East Pacific belong to L. lusciosus and one from off Hawaii is an undescribed species here described as L. lentibus n. sp. In 1973 a Soviet expedition to the Caribbean Sea trawled 18 specimens from abyssal and hadal depths and based on this material a second Leucicorus species was described, L. atlanticus Nielsen, 1975. Since then eight Leucicorus specimens from the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have been caught of which two from the West Atlantic belong to a new species, L. gerringerae n. sp., herein described, four to L. atlanticus and two remain as Leucicorus sp. About 35 demersal Leucicorus specimens have been observed and photographed by ROV (remotely operated vehicle) at depths of 3804-5768 meters in the Pacific Ocean.

Revision of the 'dragon-head cusk eels of the genus Porogadus (Teleostei: Ophidiidae), with description of eight new species and one new genus.

The ophidiid genus Porogadus occurs between 800 and 5300 m in the tropical and subtropical world oceans. Fifteen nominal species have been described since 1878 and most of them until 1902. The genus has been highlighted as needing revision in recent compilations about ophidiiforms and here we present the first comprehensive review. Twelve of the previously described species are here accepted as valid with two being moved to the newly established genus Tenuicephalus n. gen. that encompasses fishes differing from those of Porogadus in the extremely weak ossification, the stout head, absence of head spines and absence of the triple lateral line system considered typical for Porogadus and a reduced dentition. In addition, eight new species are described: Porogadus caboverdensis, P. dracocephalus, P. lacrimatus, P. mendax, P. solomonensis, P. turgidus, Tenuicephalus multitrabs and T. squamilabrus. The species of Porogadus show a distinctive depth segregation with the majority of species having a demersal bathyal life-style between 800 and 3500 m and other species being more or less exclusively restricted to abyssal depths below 3000 m. The biogeographic distribution pattern of bathyal groups shows putative species pairs in the Atlantic versus the eastern Pacific and a clear separation of eastern Pacific from Indo-West Pacific species. The geographic effects and timing are being discussed that may have led to this speciation events. Generally, we found widely distributed species that are found far away from continental masses and others restrained to continental slopes and sometimes exhibiting regionalism. In abyssal depth, the Cabo Verde and Canary basins off NW-Africa have yielded three exclusive species, but it is uncertain at this stage whether this could represent a sampling bias with this area being extensively sampled by the Discovery research vessel (BMNH) over the years from 19701998. Another instance of a potentially endemic abyssal species is that of Porogadus melanocephalus in the Bay of Bengal. The latter has been caught with 45 specimens in a single trawl, representing the highest number of Porogadus specimens collected in any trawl and indicating that these fishes may actually not be as rare as one might assume from the literature.

A new species of the genus Verilus (Teleostei, Percomorpha, Acropomatidae) from Brazil.

A new species of Acropomatid fish, Verilus costai sp. nov., is described from a single locality off Belmonte, State of Bahia, Brazil. It resembles Verilus pseudomicrolepis (Schultz, 1940) from the Caribbean Sea. The two are considered vicariant and they are interpreted to be separated from other species of the genus Verilus by (amongst other characters) the presence of fangs on the dentary (vs. only villiform teeth), the anal fin formula (II+9 vs. III+7) and the naked occiput (vs. scaled). However, formal establishment of a separate genus is postponed until a complete phylogenetic review of the family has been performed. Verilus costai can be distinguished from V. pseudomicrolepis by its higher number of gill rakers (27-31 vs. 21-25), lower number of pseudobranchial filaments (15-23 vs. 21-28), shorter snout length (8.2-11.3 vs. 11.3-13.4 % of SL), and more compressed otoliths (OL:OH = 1.3-1.35 vs. 1.35-1.5). In addition, the fossil otolith-based species Verilus mutinensis (Bassoli, 1906) from the late Miocene to middle Pleistocene of the Mediterranean is thought to be related and indicates that in the past this group was more widely distributed than nowadays and comprised more vicariant species.

Reappraisal of Synagrops Günther, 1887 with rehabilitation and revision of Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 including description of seven new species and two new genera (Perciformes: Acropomatidae).

An ongoing review of the fishes of the basal percoid family Acropomatidae has revealed that the genus Synagrops Günther, 1887 as it is currently understood is not a natural group. Species with a serrated pelvic-fin spine are here placed in the resurrected genus Parascombrops Alcock, 1889 (type-species: Parascombrops pellucidus Alcock, 1889), and the new, monospecific genus Caraibops n. gen. (type-species: Synagrops trispinosus Mochizuki & Sano, 1984). Parascombrops is unique amongst Acropomatidae in the combination of the presence of vacant 8th interneural space, a predorsal formula /0+0/0+2/ and an epaxialis attachment type 1. Caraibops n. gen. shares none of these characters and further differs from Parascombrops by an anal-fin formula of III + 9 (vs II + 7 or III + 6), and the absence of denticles on the ectopterygoid. Parascombrops is revised and now contains a total of 13 species, including 7 new: P. analis (Katayama, 1957), P. argyreus (Gilbert & Cramer, 1897), P. glossodon n. sp., P. madagascariensis n. sp., P. mochizukii n. sp., P. nakayamai n. sp., P. ohei n. sp., P. parvidens n. sp., P. pellucidus Alcock, 1889, P. philippinensis (Günther, 1880), P. serratospinosus (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912), P. spinosus (Schultz, 1940) and P. yamanouei n. sp. Synagrops adeni Kotthaus, 1970 and S. malayanus Weber, 1913 are treated as synonyms of P. pellucidus and P. philippinensis, respectively. Lectotypes are designated for P. philippinensis and S. malayanus. The main characters used to distinguish between the species of Parascombrops are: serration of other fin spines, number of gill rakers and pseudobranchial filaments, head profile, presence or absence of ridges on the preopercle, shape of 1st anal-fin pterygiophore, dentition on vomer, palatines and ectopterygoids, orbit diameter, pectoral-fin length, maximal body depth and otolith morphology. The genus Synagrops is here confined to two species, S. japonicus (Döderlein, 1883) and S. bellus (Goode & Bean, 1896), characterized by the apomorphic character of an otic capsule with a posteriorly open myodome, a basioccipital fossa and a very specialized otolith morphology. Synagrops is also characterized by the absence of pelvic-fin spine serrations. Two other species without a serrated pelvic-fin spine, originally described in Synagrops, are removed from this genus. Synagrops microlepis Norman, 1935 is separated into the monotypic Kaperangus n. gen., the only genus in the family with two supraneurals (cf. three in all other taxa). The second, Synagrops pseudomicrolepis Schultz, 1940 is re-assigned to the genus Verilus.        The geographic distribution of Parascombrops as currently composed is discussed, and is shown to be primarily of West Pacific nature, with few species in the Indian Ocean and one in the tropical West-Atlantic (P. spinosus). The West Atlantic species Parascombrops spinosus is very closely related to P. mochizukii from the tropical northwestern Pacific, and the implications of this disjunct distribution are discussed. The high degree of speciation now recognized in Parascombrops species of the West-Pacific indicates that a diverse ecological adaptation within an overall pseudoceanic habitat may have played a major role in speciation, which would have remained obscured without adequate taxonomic resolution.        Fossil, otolith-based records are also briefly discussed in the context. The extant Parascombrops argyreus and P. ohei are reported from the Pliocene of Japan, and Caraibops trispinosus has been recorded from the Pliocene of Venezuela.