Keita Koeda

A new species of Pempheris (Perciformes: Pempheridae) endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, Japan

Pempheris familia sp. nov. is described on the basis of two specimens collected from the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. The new species is most similar to Pempheris japonica Döderlein in Steindachner and Döderlein 1883, endemic to Japanese and Korean waters, in having adherent scales with strong ctenii on the lateral and ventral surfaces of the body, each scale expanded basally and distally due to central narrowing, the abdomen with a U-shaped cross-sectional outline, a large ventral fenestra between the coracoid and cleithrum, 10 dorsal-fin soft rays and 35 or 36 anal-fin soft rays. However, Pempheris familia can be distinguished from P. japonica by the following combination of characters: 84–88 pored lateral-line scales; 14 or 15 scale rows above the lateral line; 50–55 predorsal scales; 26 circumpeduncular scales; and a distinct blackish blotch on the pectoral-fin base. Pempheris familia appears to be endemic to the Ogasawara Islands.

A new garden eel, Heteroconger fugax (Congridae: Heterocongrinae), from the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Heteroconger fugax sp. nov. (Congridae: Heterocongrinae) is described from a single specimen collected from Amami-oshima island, Japan. The new species is most similar to Heteroconger tomberua Castle Randall 1999, known from Fiji and New Caledonia, in having a remarkably slender body with numerous small spots and a vertebral count close to 200. However, it can be distinguished from H. tomberua by the presence of a large distinct white blotch on the opercle; more numerous, dense spots over the entire head, including lips; ground color of body uniformly cream, without microscopic melanophores; numerous small conical cirri on the chin; and dorsal-fin origin located more posteriorly to appressed pectoral-fin tip. A survey of underwater photographs of Heteroconger on photographic database revealed H. fugax to be widely distributed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, from the Ryukyu Archipelago to Borneo.

A new tapertail species (family Radiicephalidae; Lampridiformes) from Taiwan, the first confirmed western Pacific Ocean record of the family

Radiicephalus kessinger sp. nov. (Lampridiformes: Radiicephalidae), described from a single specimen collected off southwestern Taiwan, represents a formerly monotypic and rarely collected family, known almost entirely from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, although some unsupported larval records exist from the north and eastern Pacific oceans. Radiicephalus kessinger can be distinguished from the only other congener R. elongatus Osório 1917 on the basis of fin ray and vertebral counts, fin ray positions and lengths, lateral line position, jaw shape, dorsal body outline and teeth patterns. The specimen represents the first record of the family in the western Pacific Ocean, there being no reliable records or voucher specimens of the family from the Indo-West Pacific region. New information is given on scales and coloration of R. elongatus, based on examination of the neotype and additional specimens.