Whiskered Viviparous Brotula, Alionematichthys piger Alcock 1890

Summary:

A uniformly dark brown to almost black brotula

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2019, Alionematichthys piger in Fishes of Australia, accessed 26 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1935

Whiskered Viviparous Brotula, Alionematichthys piger Alcock 1890

More Info

Distribution	Broome to the Kimberley Region, and off Scott Reef, Western Australia, and off Cape York, Queensland, Diamond Islets in the Coral Sea, and Middleton Reef and Elizabeth Reef in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is common and widespread in the tropical, east-Indo-west-central Pacific: from the Andaman Islands to Sumatra, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands in the north, to Australia south as Lord Howe Island and eastwards to Micronesia, the Line Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago and Pitcairn Group.
Features	Dorsal fin 72–88; Anal fin 55–70; Vertebrae 11–12+29–33=40–45. Eyes moderately large (1.7– 2.8% SL); body slender, snout rounded, with many cirri; scales only on cheeks (rarely 1–2 scales above opercular spine); upper preopercular pore present; outer pseudoclasper broad-based, large, often extending beyond hood in resting position; inner pseudoclasper small, anterior and posterior lobes of equal size.
Species Citation	Dinematichthys piger Alcock 1890, Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 6: 432. Type locality: coral reefs at Great Coco Island, Andaman Islands, Investigator station 17, depth 15-35 fathoms.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2019
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Whiskered Viviparous Brotula, Alionematichthys piger Alcock 1890

References

Alcock, A.W. 1890. On some undescribed shorefishes from the Bay of Bengal. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 6: 425-443 figs 1-3 See ref at BHL

Alcock, A.W. 1905. Illustrations of the zoology of the Royal Indian marine surveying steamer Investigator,...Fishes. Calcutta. Part 8: no p., Pls. 36-38.

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

Fricke, R., Kulbicki, M. & Wantiez, L. 2011. Checklist of the fishes of New Caledonia, and their distribution in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (Pisces). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie A (Biologie) Neue Serie 4: 341-463

Møller, P.R. & Schwarzhans, W. 2008. Review of the Dinematichthyini (Teleostei: Bythitidae) of the Indo-Pacific. Part IV. Dinematichthys and two new genera with descriptions of nine new species. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 24: 87-146

Møller, P. R., Knudsen, S.W., Schwarzhan, W. & Nielsen, J.G. 2016. A new classification of viviparous brotulas (Bythitidae) – with family status for Dinematichthyidae – based on molecular, morphological and fossil data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100: 391-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.008

Nielsen, J.G., Cohen, D.M., Markle, D.F. & Robins, C.R. 1999. Ophidiiform Fishes of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 Vol. 18. 178 pp. (p, 126, as status uncertain, in Brotulina)