KILLI - DATA SERIES, 2024, Zee, comments on syntypes of Epiplatys longiventralis

Killi-Data Series 2024 [100 pages, as a print, ISBN 978-2-9547546-6-6, as a PDF document, ISBN 978-2-9547546-7-3]

Killi-Data Series 2024, 61-70, 13 figs.

Comments on the syntypes of Epiplatys longiventralis (Boulenger, 1911).

Jouke van der Zee. 

Abstract : Photographs of the syntypes of Epiplatys longiventralis (Boulenger, 1911), taken by the National History Museum in London, served as a basis for analysing these syntypes. The 9 specimens, all from eastern Nigeria, consist of 3 species. The 6 specimens from Awka, just north of the eastern Niger Delta, are E. longiventralis. The single type from the Niger mouth is Epiplatys grahami, and the 2 syntypes from Old Calabar, are either E. infrafasciatus or E. togolensis. E. longiventralis males have a different frontal sensory system than other species of the E. sexfasciatus group. A central lobe separates the two neuromasts. However, it is not the same as Clausen's triangular system. In that system, the two neuromasts are very close to each other, with a gap of approximately 1 neuromast length. In E. longiventralis these neuromasts are far apart, as in the E. sexfasciatus group. It is proposed to name the two systems according to their basic characteristic: “wide” if the neuromasts are far apart and “close” if they are close together. E. longiventralis is not the only species with elongated pelvic fins. Populations of E. togolensis west of the Cross River may also have this trait. E. longiventralis and E. togolensis occur syntopically in the Niger Delta. However, they choose a different microhabitat.

zoobank.org:pub:79B2134D-848F-4676-B8CC-8B9B6508D41C

How to order a print or a PDF of this volume, including this article ? Follow instructions and simply process the ORDER FORM