A Review of the Morid Fish Genus Lepidion of the North Atlantic With First Records of Lepidion eques from the Western North Atlantic

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Author: Templeman, Wilfred
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1970
• Subjects: Canada; Greenland; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f70-054; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f70-054

Seventeen specimens of Lepidion eques (Günther) taken by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada St. John's, Nfld., Biological Station are apparently the first records of the species from the western Atlantic west of West Greenland. Comparison with specimens from the northeast Atlantic shows some differences in averages of meristic and morphometric characters, but with overlapping ranges in these characters.Comparison of these North Atlantic L. eques with the Mediterranean Lepidion lepidion (Risso) revealed that although closely related, these species are separable on the bases of the smaller orbit diameter in relation to the head length and especially by the relatively larger postorbital length in L. lepidion. Lepidion guentheri (Giglioli) is distinctly different from these two species in some meristic and many morphometric characters. Lectotypes of L. eques and L. guentheri are designated. Various incorrect or doubtful records of Lepidion are discussed. Two giant lepidions reported recently from the northeast Atlantic as L. guentheri are tentatively assigned to Lepidion schmidti Svetovidov, a species hitherto known only from Japan.The distributions of the North Atlantic species of Lepidion are discussed and information is provided on sexual maturity.