Spiny Deepsea Batﬁsh, Halieutopsis echinoderma Ho 2022

Summary:

A blackish deepsea batfish with a somewhat pale vermiculate pattern, and black fins except for the pectorals which have paler undersides. The ventral surface is pale at the pelvic-ﬁn bases, on the belly, and around the anus, and darker on the chin and outside of gill chamber.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Halieutopsis echinoderma in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 Jun 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5642

Spiny Deepsea Batﬁsh, Halieutopsis echinoderma Ho 2022

More Info

Distribution	Coral Sea, east of Murray Island, Torres Strait, to off the Gold Coast, Queensland, at depths of 445-508 m. Elsewhere the species occurs off north-eastern Taiwan.
Similar Species	Differs from the similar Halieutopsis galatea in having a subtriangular disk with a pointed rostrum (vs. rounded with a blunt rostrum in H. echinoderma), a broader interorbital space (13.5–16.2% SL, vs. 11.7–12.4 in H. echinoderma), a relatively long pre-anal length (63.1–68.9% SL, vs. 57.4–64.5 in H. echinoderma), and a relatively short tail (31.1–36.9% SL, vs. 35.5–42.6% in H. echinoderma). H. nasuta, which has a similar vermiculate pattern, differs in having sparse tubercles on the middle of the disk underside, bifurcate (vs. simple in H. echinoderma) principal tubercles on the lateral sides of the tail, in lacking small spines between the principal tubercles (vs. present in H. echinoderma), and a narrower interorbital space is wider (10.3–13.3% SL, vs. 13.5–16.2% SL).
Etymology	The specific name is from the Greek echinoderma (= spiny skin) in reference to the squamation of this species.
Species Citation	Halieutopsis echinoderma Ho 2021, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10(1): 15, Figs. 7-8. Type locality: Daxi, Yilan, northeastern Taiwan, northwestern Pacific, depth ~ 400 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Spiny Deepsea Batﬁsh, Halieutopsis echinoderma Ho 2022

References

Ho, H.-C. 2022. Taxonomy and distribution of the deep-sea batfish genus Halieutopsis (Teleostei: Ogcocephalidae), with descriptions of five new species. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10(1): 64 pp. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10010034