Blue-eye Siphonfish, Siphamia cyanophthalma Gon & Allen 2012

Summary:

A pale brown siphonfish with distinctive narrow, blue horizontal stripes across the eye above and below the pupil, a series of orange-brown dots of various sizes on head and body, and a silvery grey light organ speckled with dark brown dots and edged dorsally with narrow orange line from chest gradually narrowing posteriorly to about mid-ventral caudal peduncle.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Siphamia cyanophthalma in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4971

Blue-eye Siphonfish, Siphamia cyanophthalma Gon & Allen 2012

More Info

Distribution	Scott Reef, off north Western Australia. Elsewhere the species occurs in in the West Pacific: the Philippines (Cuyo Islands), Indonesia (Flores, Lombok, northern Sulawesi, and West Papua), Palau, Papua New Guinea (Madang). Has been seen in association with Acropora corals.
Features	Dorsal fin VII+I,9; Anal fin II,7–8; Pectoral fin 12; Tubed lateral-line scales 4–8; Median predorsal scales 4–5; Total gill rakers 3–4 + 9–10, developed gill rakers 1 + 6–9, gill rakers on ceratobranchial 6–7. Body depth 2.25–2.6 in SL and body width 2.4–3.1 in the depth; eye diameter 2.65–3.3 in head length.
Colour	Translucent pale brown, with irregular series of orange-brown dots of various sizes on head and body; dots somewhat smaller and closer together on snout, interorbital area and lower jaw; eye with two horizontal narrow blue stripes, one on each side of pupil; area of iris below ventral stripe yellow, and its remaining area with orange dots; line of small dark dots along edge of jaws; branchiostegal rays with brown dots; pectoral and pelvic base blackish; small blackish mark along base of first three dorsal spines; fins pale, but spines and rays with faint orange tinge; silvery grey light organ speckled with dark brown dots and edged dorsally with narrow orange line from chest (between pelvic and pectoral fin bases) gradually narrowing posteriorly to about mid-ventral caudal peduncle.
Similar Species
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin cyanophthalma (= blue-eye) in reference to the pair of blue stripes through the eye, which is an excellent field character for its recognition.
Species Citation	Siphamia cyanophthalma Gon & Allen 2012, Zootaxa 3294: 32, figs 14b–c, 16. Type locality: off Pertamina oil storage site, Waipare Reef, Flores, Indonesia [8°37.943’S, 122°15.993’E].
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Blue-eye Siphonfish, Siphamia cyanophthalma Gon & Allen 2012

References

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Gon, O. & Allen, G.R. 2012. Revision of the Indo-Pacific cardinalfish genus Siphamia (Perciformes: Apogonidae). Zootaxa 3294: 1-84 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3294.1.1

Kuiter, R.H. & Kozawa, T. 2019. Cardinalfishes of the world. New Edition. Seaford, Victoria: Aquatic Photographics, and Okazaki, Aichi: Anthias (Nexus), 198 pp.

Mabuchi, K., Fraser, T.H., Song, H., Azuma, Y. & Nishida, M. 2014. Revision of the systematics of the cardinalfishes (Percomorpha: Apogonidae) based on molecular analyses and comparative reevaluation of morphological characters. Zootaxa 3846(2): 151–203