Apine Triangular Batfish, Malthopsis apis Ho & Last 2021

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Malthopsis apis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 19 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5575

Apine Triangular Batfish, Malthopsis apis Ho & Last 2021

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Distribution	Endemic to eastern Australia, from the Coral Sea northeast of Raine Island, to off Brisbane, Queensland, mostly at below 300 m.
Features	Dorsal fin 5-6; Pectoral fin 11-13. Body depressed, disc markedly triangular in dorsal view, skull well elevated above rest of disc; tail base narrow; caudal peduncle semicylindrical, flattened ventrally and tapering posteriorly; eye large, 13.8%–15.5% SL, directed dorsolaterally; rostrum short, pointed, needle-like, with a small base, curved slightly and directed anterodorsally, distinctly overhanging illicial cavity and mouth, 6.5%–10.0% SL; interorbital space narrow (3.7%–5.5% SL).Anal fin reaching or extending beyond caudal-fin base when appressed. Body covered with small, pointed spiny bucklers; three irregular rows of small bucklers on posterior portion of skull (those in lateral rows much larger than those in median row); broad naked areas on shoulder and gill cavity; ventral surface of disk densely covered by small pointed bucklers, slightly larger and denser on breast than belly; subopercular buckler with well-developed spines, anteriormost directed forward, lateral spine directed outward, and one or two posteriormost spines directed backward; both post-subopercular bucklers with one or more sharp spines.
Colour	In preservative: dorsal surface uniformly greyish yellow, bucklers darker yellowish to medium brown; naked areas on shoulder often palest; eyelid dark; eye black; undersurface of disk whitish; peritoneum pale with scattered peppery melanophores; dermal cirri white. Fresh colour unknown.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin apis (= bee), in reference to the small, pointed rostral spine and large orbit of this species, which together draw resemblance to the head of a honeybee.
Species Citation	Malthopsis apis Ho & Last 2021, Bulletin of Marine Science 97(1): 170, Figs 2 & 2. Type locality: 17°58´S, 147°04´E, eastern Dunk Island, Queensland, northeastern Australia, 302–308 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Apine Triangular Batfish, Malthopsis apis Ho & Last 2021

References

Ho, H.-C. & Last, P.R. 2021. Review of the batfish genus Malthopsis from Australia (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), with descriptions of five new species. Bulletin of Marine Science 97(1): 165-218 https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2020.0037