A late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) galaxiid fish from South Africa
- Authors: Anderson, M Eric , J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology
- Date: 1998-05
- Subjects: Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Flatfishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71000 , vital:29769 , Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)) Periodicals Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB))
- Description: Online version of original print edition of the Special Publication of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 60 , A new teleost fish, Stompooria rogersmithi, is described from deposits of a Late Cretaceous crater lake in the Karoo, South Africa. The fossils represent the earliest known species of the recently redefined family Galaxiidae. Distinguishing features include the apposition of the dorsal and anal fins, 41- 42 vertebrae, all neural arches anterior to the dorsal fin origin fused to the centra, presence of epineurals, the opercle reduced above the level of the hyomandibular articulation, the posttemporal and supracleithrum without a connection to the seismosensory head canals, 18 principal caudal fin rays, two epurals, five hypurals, no dorsal outgrowth on the uroneural, the neural spines of the second and third preural centra similar in size, and absence of a stegural, a third uroneural, a mesocoracoid, a supramaxilla, and teeth on the maxilla and palatine bones.
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A new species of the flatfish genus Chascanopsetta (Pleuronectiformes: Bothidae), from the coasts of Kenya and Somalia with comments on C.lugubris
- Authors: Hensley, Dannie A , Smale, Malcolm J , J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology
- Date: 1997-12
- Subjects: Fishes -- Indian Ocean , Flatfishes -- Indian Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70987 , vital:29768 , Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)) Periodicals Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB))
- Description: Online version of original print edition of the Special Publication of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 59 , Six species of the genus Chascanopsetta are currently recognized. Recent work on otolith morphology from specimens identified as C. lugubris raised the possibility that three forms of C. lugubris are found in the western Indian Ocean. Re-examination of the voucher specimens showed that one of these forms is a new species, C. kenyaensis, from Kenya and Somalia. The other two forms may show differences in otolith morphology due to ontogeny. The new species most closely resembles C. prorigera from the Hawaiian Archipelago, Emperor Seamounts, and the western North Atlantic. These two species differ in lateral-line scale counts, body depth, upper-jaw length, and coloration. Many comparative specimens of C. lugubris were examined. It was found that this species’ distribution rounds the Cape of Good Hope from the southwestern Indian Ocean into the southeastern Atlantic. Specimens from this southern African region show higher dorsal- and anal-fin ray counts than those from more northern areas in the Atlantic, western Pacific, and Indian oceans. There is some indication that what some authors refer to as the Indo-West Pacific subspecies C. lugubris lugubris rounds the Cape of Good Hope and also occurs in parts of the eastern Atlantic. A more thorough comparison of C. lugubris from different regions is needed.
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