New Data on the Shortcrevice Eelpout Gymnelopsis brevifenestrata (Zoarcidae) from the Sea of Okhotsk
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Data on the Shortcrevice Eelpout Gymnelopsis brevifenestrata (Zoarcidae) from the Sea of Okhotsk N. V. Chernovaa, * and M. V. Nazarkina aZoological
Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia *e-mail: [email protected]
Received July 15, 2019; revised September 16, 2019; accepted September 18, 2019
Abstract—Shortcrevice eelpout Gymnelopsis brevifenestrata (Zoarcidae, Gymnelinae) is an endemic species of the Sea of Okhotsk; until recently, it was known by 12 type specimens from the museum collections. The variability of the species was characterized and its distribution was revised by the study of several new specimens and paratypes. The live coloration of males is described for the first time, giving new characters for the field taxonomic identification of this species. G. brevifenestrata inhabits the western and northern Sea of Okhotsk at the depth range of 76–200 m. Considering the association of G. brevifenestrata to supercooled waters, it should be assigned to the glacial group of Okhotsk-sea species. Keywords: shortcrevice eelpout Gymnelopsis brevifenestrata, Zoarcidae, Sea of Okhotsk DOI: 10.1134/S0032945220040037
INTRODUCTION Eelpouts of the genus Gymnelopsis Soldatov, 1922 are small-size fish (Zoarcidae) inhabiting the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan (Soldatov and Lindberg, 1930; Lindberg and Krasyukova, 1975; Anderson, 1982, 1994; Nazarkin and Chernova, 2003). They are benthic species inhabiting the shelf and the upper part of the continental slope at the depths from 70 down to 783 m (Anderson, 1982, 1994). Like other representatives of the subfamily Gymnelinae, eelpouts are characterized by an elongated low body, the absence of an abdominal fin, and a large number of vertebrae (86– 115). They differ by the presence of scales, fewer rays of the caudal fin (5–8 against 9–12), and the presence of a coronal pore from the representatives of the most related genus Gymnelus Reinhardt, 1834. The coronal pore is absent in the Gymnelus species (except G. popovi, which probably belongs to the genus Commandorella Taranetz et Andriashev, 1935, as it was described originally). The composition of the genus Gymnelopsis is controversial. In the latest revision (Anderson, 1982), four species were included in the genus, they are G. ocellata Soldatov, 1922, G. brashnikovi Soldatov, 1922, G. brevifenestrata Anderson, 1982, and G. ochotensis (Popov, 1931); the fifth species, G. japonica Katayama, 1943, is reduced to the synonymy of the species G. ochotensis, although Japanese ichthyologists (Katayama, 1943; Toyoshima, 1981) showed significant differences in these species, separated geographically by a large distance. Considering their arguments convincing, a number of authors still attribute G. japonica to a sep-
arate species (Nazarkin and Chernova, 2003; Shinohara et al., 2011, 2014). There is no consensus on the genus status of G. ochotensis as well. Some researchers (Toyoshima in Masuda et al., 1984; Sheiko, Fedorov, 2000; Fedorov et al., 2003; Balushkin et al., 2011) still include it in the genu
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