Deep-water Goatfish, Upeneus subvittatus (Temminck & Schlegel 1843)

A Deep-sea Goatfish, Upeneus subvittatus (MZB PB 389), from Java, Indonesia. Source: W. White, Fig. 1e, in Uiblein & McGrouther (2012) Zootaxa 3350. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A silvery-rose goatfish becoming silvery on the sides and whitish below, with a black tip on the first dorsal fin, and 7–10 oblique brown to blackish bars on the caudal-fin that become darker towards the rear of the fin: 4–6 bars on the upper caudal-fin lobe (including one bar close to the rear end of the lateral line); 3–4 darker bars on the lower lobe becoming darker towards the tip.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2024, Upeneus subvittatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Jan 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5741

Deep-water Goatfish, Upeneus subvittatus (Temminck & Schlegel 1843)

More Info

Distribution	NW of Point Cloates to W of North West Cape, Western Australia, in 208-212 m. Elsewhere the species occurs in the East-Indo-west Pacific: Indonesia and the Philippines, north to southern Japan. Inhabits sandy and muddy areas in coastal and offshore waters.
Features	Dorsal fin VIII + 9; Anal fin I,7; Pectoral fin 16–17; Gill rakers 7–9 + 19–21 = 26–30. Body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 25–28% SL; body depth at anus 22–23% SL; caudal-peduncle depth 9.2–10% SL; maximum head depth 22–25% SL; head depth through eye 18–20% SL; head length 32–33% SL; orbit length 7.8–8.8% SL; upper jaw length 13–14% SL; barbel length 19–24% SL; caudal-fin length 26–29% SL; anal-fin height 14–18% SL; pelvic-fin length 17–19% SL; pectoral-fin length 23–25% SL; first dorsal-fin height 20–23% SL; second dorsal-fin height 14–17% SL.
Colour	Oblique caudal-fin bars 7–10, with the colour of the bars changing from pale brown proximally to brown towards the rear caudal-fin margin; 4–6 bars on the upper caudal-fin lobe (including one bar close to the rear end of the lateral line), white interspaces between the bars slightly narrower than the bars; 3–4 darker bars on the lower caudal-fin lobe, of similar width as the white interspaces between the bars and becoming darker towards the lobe tip; first dorsal-fin tip black (caudal-fin bars and black dorsal-fin tip retained on preserved fish); barbels white; no lateral body stripes; head and body silvery laterally and pale rose dorsally; belly and ventral side of peduncle white.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin prefix sub- (= less than, almost, somewhat) and vittatus (= striped), possibly in reference to the indistinct yellowish stripe along the side compared with the prominent stripe of U. vittatus.
Species Citation	Mullus subvittatus Temminck & Schlegel 184, Fauna Japonica 3: 30. Type locality: Nagasaki, Japan.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2024
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Deep-water Goatfish, Upeneus subvittatus (Temminck & Schlegel 1843)

References

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 2022. Trawled fishes of southern Indonesia and northwestern Australia. 2nd ed. i-vii, 1-422, Pls. 1-3. See ref online

Temminck, C.J. & Schlegel, H. 1843. Pisces. 21-72 pls 7A-36 in Siebold, P. Fr de (ed.). Fauna Japonica. Leyden : Apud Arnz & Socios Vol. 4(2–4). See ref at BHL

Uiblein, F. & McGrouther, M.A. 2012, A new deep-water goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from northern Australia and the Philippines, with a taxonomic account of U. subvittatus and remarks on U. mascareinsis. Zootaxa 3550: 61-70 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3550.1.4

Uiblein, F. & White, W.T. 2015. A new goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from Lombok, Indonesia and first verified record of U. asymmetricus for the Indian Ocean. Zootaxa 3980 (no. 1): 51-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3980.1.3