Apagesoma-edentatum, A New Genus And Species Of Ophidiid Fish From The Western North-Atlantic

• Main Author: Carter, HJ
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1983
• Subjects: Fisheries Science Peer-Reviewed Articles; Aquaculture and Fisheries; Marine Biology; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/1551; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/2559/viewcontent/apagesoma.pdf

A new genus and species of deep-sea fish, Apagesoma eden/alum, (family Ophidiidae), is described from deep waters off the Bahamas. It can be distinguished from other ophidiid genera by the following characters: an enlarged and swollen anterior nostril; eyes placed anteriorly on the head; moderate-sized, unsculptured, hemispheric-shaped sagitta; absence ofa basibranchial tooth patch; absence of an opercular spine; large sub-terminal mouth, with non-protrusible jaws. Typhlonus delosommalus Hureau et aI., 1979 is placed in Apagesoma based on similarities in otoliths, non-protrusibility of jaws, swollen anterior nostrils and absence of a basi branchial tooth patch. Typhlonus contains only the type species, T. naslls Gunther, 1878, which differs from Apagesoma in possessing a much larger and highly sculptured otolith, highly protrusible jaws and presence of a basibranchial tooth patch.