Douglas F. Markle

Natural History of Oregonichthys (Pisces: Cyprinidae), with a Description of a New Species from the Umpqua River of Oregon

The Umpqua chub, a new species of Oregonichthys, is described from the Umpqua River of southern Oregon. The two species of Oregonichthys are allopatric sibling species that differ in spawning substrates but are generally similar in appearance: the Umpqua chub spawns on rocks, lives in a variety of streamside habitats with moderate to no water flow, has a naked breast and a slightly subterminal mouth; the Oregon chub of the Willamette River, 0. crameri, spawns in plants, lives in pond or slough habitats with little or no water flow, has a scaled breast and a terminal mouth. A Late Cenozoic stream capture is postulated as the vicariant event responsible for allopatry. Recent surveys indicate that the Oregon chub is restricted to about 30 km of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River and that its continued existence is endangered.

Redescription of the Presumed-Extinct Miller Lake Lamprey, Lampetra minima

Abstract Lampetra minima, believed eradicated in 1958 and extinct, survives in upper tributaries of the historical Williamson drainage in Klamath and Lake Counties, Oregon. The species, the smallest known parasitic lamprey, was believed to be endemic to Miller Lake. Its current disjunct distribution includes Miller Creek, Jack Creek, and upper sections of the Williamson and Sycan Rivers. We compare new specimens with the type series and other Klamath Basin lampreys and redescribe L. minima. It appears most similar to Lampetra lethophaga but is smaller (72–145 mm vs 115–170 mm TL), has a larger disc length (5.0–8.6% vs 4.2–6.4% TL), larger prebranchial length (11.0–17.0% vs 8.8–13.7% TL), and larger eye (2.1–3.3% vs 1.4–2.3% TL). Klamath Basin Lampetra differ from anadromous Lampetra tridentata in a single transition in cytochrome b, and L. minima have an additional, but not unique, transition. Our data do not support the suggestion that L. minima recently evolved from a L. tridentata–like ancestor; rather we suggest a more ancient separation and a sister relationship with L. lethophaga.

A New Species and Review of Bajacalifornia (Pisces: Alepocephalidae) with Comments on the Hook Jaw of Narcetes stomias

A review of Bajacalifornia indicates that there are four nominal species, including a new one described herein, and at least one additional, as yet, unnamed form. A key that relies on meristics is presented. Problems with nomenclature relating to the types of B. arcylepis sp. nov., B. drakei, B. erimoensis and B. megalops are tentatively resolved. Changes in head morphology in larger specimens are not as dramatic as those documented for Narcetes stomias, but are

A Second Specimen of the Deep-Sea Fish, Pachycara obesa, with a Discussion of Its Classification and a Checklist of Other Zoarcidae off Virginia

The holotype of Pachycara obesa and a second specimen from off Virginia are described and errors in the original description are corrected. Pachycara obesa differs from all other zoarcids in the following combination of characters: no pelvic fins, no lateral line, 18 to 19 pectoral-fin rays, large gill opening extending below lower edge of pectoral base, dorsal origin above middle of pectoral fin, scales present and deep-water habitat. Known zoarcids found off Virginia and their depth ranges are: Pachycara obesa (2,400-2,450 m), Melanostigma atlanticum (293-1,070 m), Lycenchelys verrilli (260-1,010 m), Lycenchelys paxillus (375-1,535 m), Lycodonus mirabilis (1,271-1,866 m), Lycodes atlanticus (280-1,828 m), and Lycodes esmarki (570-785 m).

Bajacalifornia aequatoris, New Species of Alepocephalid Fish (Pisces: Salmoniformes) from the Central Equatorial Pacific

A new alepocephalid fish, Bajacalifornia aequatoris, is described from a single specimen collected by deep-sea midwater trawl from the central equatorial Pacific. It differs from its five congeners in lower gillraker counts (2 + 1 + 14 = 17 vs 4-10 + 1 + 15-28 = 22-38), in lower vertebral counts (27 + 17 = 44 vs 26-39 + 18-23 = 46-60), and by a forward-pointing conical knob at the symphysis of the lower jaw (downward in other Bajacalifornia). A revised key for Bajacalifornia is presented.

A New Species of Laemonema from off Chile, with a Redescription of L. globiceps Gilchrist (Pisces: Moridae)

The identity of two species of Laemonema from the upper slope off Chile is resolved. Laemonema multiradiatum Thompson is a junior synonym of L. globiceps Gilchrist. The second species, previously confused with L. multiradiatum, is described here as new. The new species appears to be widely distributed in the southern ocean and is very similar to a rare North Atlantic species, L. latifrons, and, less so, to an eastern tropical Pacific species, L. gracillipes. Another apparently related taxon, represented by a single damaged specimen from New Zealand, is currently indistinguishable from L. latifrons. T WO species of the morid genus Laemonema are relatively abundant upper-slope fishes off Chile. One species, Laemonema multiradiatum

The Rockfishes of the Northeast Pacific

CANDIRU: LIFE AND LEGEND OF THE BLOODSUCKING CATFISHES. Stephen Spotte. 2002. Creative Arts Book Company, 833 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, California 94710. ISBN 088739-469-8. xii 1 322 p.

Review of the Deep-Sea Fish Family Platytroctidae (Pisces: Salmoniformes)

24.50 (paperback).—It might be difficult to devise a title more attractive to ichthyologists and others steeped in fish lore than the one created for this book; titles of some of the chapters (Urinary Misconduct, Embracing Urine, Hora do Amor) may entice those with other interests. In some detail Spotte presents descriptive material for the 15 species of catfishes (mostly in the genera Vandellia and Plectrochilus) that he considers as candirus (family Trichomycteridae: subfamily Vandelliinae). His definition (p. 4, repeated on p. 50) of candiru(s) is ‘‘those trichomycterid catfishes known to suck blood from the gills of other fishes and thought to live on blood exclusively.’’ His concept of candiru, as he acknowledges in an endnote (p. 233, Endnote 9), differs from that of some authors: ‘‘I’ve taken the additional liberty of assuming those species I call ‘true’ candirus are obligate bloodsuckers, although the existence of exclusively sanguinivorous fishes requires confirmation.’’ The proclivities, or alleged proclivities, of candirus to enter orifices of the human body have aroused the prurient interests of adolescents of all ages. The vagina and urethra seem to be the portals of choice, with the anus also reported to have received the attention of these fishes. There are even stories of candirus entering ears and noses. In the penultimate chapter entitled The Smoking Gun, Spotte provided a detailed account of a candiru encounter that occurred in October 1997 during a young man’s untoward riverine micturating experience. According to that report, the invading ‘‘fish had darted out of the water, up the urine stream, and into his urethra’’ (p. 213, emphasis in the original). Much of the book is taken up with recounting candiru anecdotes reported by scientists, explorers, and adventurers, and considerable space is devoted to the field and laboratory experiences of Spotte and his colleagues Paulo Petry and Jansen A. S. Zuanon. The author and associates expended considerable effort collecting candirus and later conducted experiments designed to illuminate their behavior. In the Introduction (p. xi), the author stated: ‘‘My narrative is neither wholly factual nor entirely fictitious. . . . The candiru hovers before us like a wraith, its biology no less elusive than its legend.’’ In much of the text, Spotte interleaves myth and hearsay with fact, explanation, and disbelief and in the last chapter, Candiru World, best left unread, wanders off into a realm of fantasia. For ichthyologists, the most important contributions in the book are the presentation (in chapters 3 and 4) of descriptions from the literature of candiru taxa (many in translation with their sources in the original languages provided in the endnotes) and the compilation of references, constituting a Literature Cited of 22 pages. The 57 black-and-white illustrations are generally appropriate and mostly good, and the eight plates (four in color) are good to excellent. Candiru will appeal mainly to those interested in the freshwater fishes of South America or captivated by the mystique of the Amazon basin. This is Contribution Number 204 of the Grice Marine Biological Laboratory.

Phosphate buffered formalin for long term preservation of formalin fixed ichthyoplankton

Author(s): Matsui, Tetsuo; Rosenblatt, Richard H | Abstract: The salmoniform fish family Platytroctidae (Searsidae) was last revised by Parr (1960) and then included 17 species in 12 genera. Since Parrs revision, 20 nominal species and 2 genera have been introduced. This rapid increase in new taxa, a number of which are poorly diagnosed and described, has left the taxonomy in an unsatisfactory condition. As a result of our study, 5 species and 2 genera are synonymized. We recognize 37 species (5 new) in 13 genera (1 new). A key to the family is presented and each genus is diagnosed and described, with a synopsis for each species. Besides the sac beneath the cleithrum that contains luminous fluid (shoulder organ), platytroctids are clearly set apart from other alepocephaloids by a number of synapomorphies including the presence of a subcutaneous canal system, a unique arrangement of the anterior predorsal spines, and the configuration of the caudal skeletal complex. Intrafamilial relationships were determined by use of a number of characters, including nature of photophores, presence or absence of a cleithral spine, fin position, shape and configuration of supraorbital and infraorbitals, path of cephalic lateral line canals, and dentition and jaw structure. Subfamilies are not recognized, but lines of relationship between the genera may be discerned. The deeper-living genera (bathypelagic) form a natural group and are regarded as the more advanced. They differ from the shallower-living (mesopelagic) genera in having a spinous cleithral symphysis, and are more compressed, with considerable nonmuscular tissue along the dorsal margin of the body. The platytroctids and alepocephalids are viewed as having had a common ancestor, which perhaps was closest to the Bathyprionidae among living forms. The course of platytroctid evolution is viewed as involving movement from mesopelagic to bathypelagic depths, with many of the morphological changes being reductional. Persparsia is regarded as the most primitive and generalized genus. Most platytroctid distributions are in the form of relatively narrow bands along the highly productive equatorial waters and the western side of continents. More oceanic records are primarily in areas of high-relief bottom, such as ridges and fracture zones, and near oceanic islands. Records of the generalized genera Persparsia and Paraholtbyrnia are from areas where temperatures at mesopelagic depths are relatively high -- up to 12 deg C. However, the remaining mesopelagic genera are mostly distributed meridionally in colder waters of the eastern boundaries of the Atlantic and Pacific. They tend to be rare toward the tropics. The more advanced genera predominate at low latitudes. The generalized eastern boundary forms are typically provincial in distribution. In contrast, four of the more advanced equatorial forms are circumglobal. However, none of them extends south of 24 deg S, and two, Platytroctes apus and Searsia koefoedi, have never been taken in the South Atlantic. Both species show geographic variation, with the eastern Pacific and Atlantic populations more similar to each other than to the Indo-Pacific population. From this and other evidence, we suggest that the former Panama seaway may have provided a passage for deep-water as well as shallow-water fishes.