Deceitful Bandfish, Owstonia fallax Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016

Summary:

A pinkish bandfish with a prominent black stripe on the membrane connecting the maxilla and premaxilla (upper jaw bones), yellow eyes and a blue supraorbital rim.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Owstonia fallax in Fishes of Australia, accessed 21 Mar 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5290

Deceitful Bandfish, Owstonia fallax Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016

More Info

Distribution	Known from off Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in New Caledonia.
Features	Dorsal fin IV, 22-23; Anal fin I, 16; Pectoral fin 20; Gill rakers 15-16 + 29 = 44-45; Vertebrae precaudal 13, caudal 17, total 30; Anal-fin pterygiophores anterior to 1st haemal spine 5; Oblique scale rows in mid-lateral series about ~40-42; Cheek scale rows 3-4.
Colour	Dorsal fin uniformly pale; membrane connecting maxilla and premaxilla with prominent black stripe extending to near anterior end of premaxilla, and inner membrane covering posterior part of dentary pale in holotype and dark in other specimen. In a note with the New Caledonia specimen, Fourmanoir recorded the life coloration as “body pink, eyes yellow, supraorbital rim blue.”
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin fallax (= deceitful, false), in reference to the superficial resemblance of this species to Owstonia hastata.
Species Citation	Owstonia fallax Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016, Zootaxa 4187(1): 47, fig. 36. Type locality: Queensland, NE of Hinchinbrook Island, Australia, 17°49'S, 146°51'E, depth 170 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Deceitful Bandfish, Owstonia fallax Smith-Vaniz & Johnson 2016

References

Last, P.R., Pogonoski, J.J., Gledhill, D.C. White, W.T. & Walker, C.J. 2014. The deepwater demersal ichthyofauna of the western Coral Sea. Zootaxa 3887(2): 191-224 (as Owstonia sp 1)

Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Johnson, G.D. 2016. Hidden diversity in deep-water bandfishes: review of Owstonia with descriptions of twenty-one new species (Teleostei: Cepolidae: Owstoniinae). Zootaxa 4187(1): 1-103. http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4187.1.1