Records of Cataetyx laticeps and Ophidion barbatum (Ophidiiformes) in the Eastern Mediterranean, with comments on the deep-sea ichthyofauna

3 Pages·2002·0.82 MB·English

by  Goren, M

Note ichtyologique - ichthyological note
ReCoRdS of Cataetyx latiCeps and OphidiOn barbatum (oPHidiifoRMeS)
in THe eaSTeRn MediTeRRanean,
WiTH CoMMenTS on THe deeP Sea iCHTHYofaUna
by
Menachem GOREN (1) & Bella S. GALIL (2)
RÉSUMÉ. - Signalements de Cataetyx laticeps et de Ophidion diagnosis
barbatum (Ophidiiformes) en Méditerranée orientale, et commen- A bythitid species. Pelvic fin with a single filamentous ray;
taire sur l’ichtyofaune de profondeur. head strongly depressed; eyes directed dorsally; dorsal fins with 92
Cataetyx laticeps Koefoed, 1927 (Bythitidae) a été capturée au rays; anal fin with 75 rays; pectoral fins with 25 rays; ca 145 scales
large des côtes d’Israël. C’est le premier signalement de cette along the body; numerous small scales on head reaching to about
espèce en Méditerranée orientale. Ophidion barbatum (Ophidiidae) posterior 1/3 to interorbital space; opercle and preopercle with
a été capturée par 1400 m, ce qui constitue un record pour cette scales; few larger scales on isthmus; 3 gill rakers on anterior gill
espèce connue jusqu’alors de profondeurs inférieures à 250 m. Ces arch. Proportions (% of SL): head length: 24.2; pelvic fin length:
signalements augmentent le nombre d’espèces de poissons de pro- 9.7; pectoral fin length: 11.2; eye diameter: 3.0; snout-dorsal fin
fondeur présents dans le Bassin du Levant (38) et en Méditerranée
distance: 33.3; snout-anal fin distance: 51.5.
(58).
Remarks
Key words. - Cataetyx laticeps - Ophidion barbatum - MED -
C. laticeps is a very rare, though widely distributed, deep-sea
Israel - Deep-sea - New record.
species. It has been reported from the Gulf of Mexico, the mid
Atlantic ridge, off Africa and in the north eastern Atlantic. In the
A deep-sea waste dumping site off the Israeli coast has been Mediterranean it has never been reported east of Corsica-Sardinia
monitored annually since 1988. The benthic investigations more (Geistdoerfer and Rannou, 1972; Relini-Orsi, 1976; Hureau and
than doubled the number of reported fish species from the Levant Nielsen, 1981; Nielsen, 1986; Stefanescu, 1990; Saldanha, 1994).
Basin, challenging the concept of the eastern Mediterranean as The present finding increases its range to include the entire
more oligospecific than the western Mediterranean (Galil and Mediterranean.
Goren, 1994; Goren and Galil, 1997).
The present article reports the finding of Cataetyx laticeps
OphidiOn barbatum LinnaeUS, 1758
Koefoed, 1927 (Bythitidae) off the coast of Israel. This species
was previously known from the Atlantic and western Mediterranean
Material examined
(Nielsen, 1986). We also report the finding of Ophidion barbatum
TAU 11120, 1 spec., total length: 135 mm; off Haifa, between
Linnaeus, 1758 (Ophidiidae) at a depth of 1400 m. This benthic
33°00’N-34°37’E and 33°01’N-34°37’E, 1456 m, 30 Mar. 1993,
species has previously been reported only from relatively shallow
Marinovich type deep-water trawl, coll. B. Galil.
water (Nielsen, 1986).
These findings increase the number of deep-sea (> 1000m) fish
diagnosis
species known from the Levant Basin to 38 and the total number
An ophidiid species characterized by elongate body, 6 gill
of deep-sea fish species in the Mediterranean to 58. The analysis
rakers, 132 dorsal fin rays and 115 anal fin rays. Small cycloid
of the data accumulated from over 200 benthic trawl surveys of the
scales on body.
deep-sea sites enabled us to portray the deep sea fish community
along the Israeli coast.
The material is deposited in the Zoological Museum of Tel
Aviv University (TAU).
Cataetyx latiCeps Koefoed, 1927
(Fig. 1)
Material examined
TAU 12140, 1 spec., total length 350 mm, standard length
330mm; off Atlit, between 32°38’N-34°02’E and 32°36’N-34°16’E,
1400 m, Marinovich type deep-water trawl, 20 Oct. 99, coll. B. Figure 1. - Cataetyx laticeps Koefoed, 1927 from eastern Mediterranean
Galil. (TAU 12140, SL 350 mm).
(1) Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL.
[[email protected]]
(2) National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research. P.O.B. 8030, Haifa 31080, ISRAEL. [bella@
ocean.org.il]
Cybium 2002, 26(2): 150-152.
Cataetyx laticeps and Ophidion barbatum in the Mediterranean goren & galil
Remarks the Myctophidae (5 species) and the Macrouridae (4 species). The
Ophidion barbatum was previously reported from the eastern Notacanthidae and Squalidae were represented by two species
Mediterranean by Golani (1996). This fish is considered to be each. The remaining 17 families were represented by a single spe-
“benthic from few to 150 m” (Nielsen 1986). Other specimens of cies each. A comparison with a survey made by Stefanescu et al.
this species, deposited in the Tel Aviv University fish collection, (1992) in the Catalan Sea (western Mediterranean) revealed simi-
were collected along the Israeli coast at depths shallower than lar numbers (31 species, 19 families) although the species compo-
250 m. The present report, which is a depth record for O. barbatum sition is not identical.
supported the findings of Goren and Galil (1997) that more than The distribution of individuals among families is shown in
half of the deep sea fishes in the Levant Basin inhabit shallower figure 2. The most common families are the Macrouridae,
habitats in the western Mediterranean. Ipnopidae and Nettastomatidae with 35%, 25% and 12% of the
individuals respectively. The other 8 families comprised 28% of
the individuals. These finding are quite different from the results
CoMMenTS on THe deeP Sea iCHTHYofaUna obtained from a survey in the western Mediterranean where the
off THe iSRaeLi CoaST Chlorophthalmidae, Moridae and Macrouridae comprise nearly
85% of all specimens (Stefanescu et al. 1992).
A total of 447 fish specimens were collected during the 11 Nezumia sclerorhynchus (Valenciennes, 1838) and Bathypterois
years deep-sea waste sites monitoring project and deposited in the mediterraneus Bauchot, 1962 are the most common species, with
fish collection of Tel Aviv University. These fish were identified to 29.5% and 24.8% (respectively) of the specimens. The five most
30 species and 21 families (Tab. I). The most diverse families were abundant species (each > 5% of the total) comprise 78.5% of the
Table I. - List of deep sea fishes collected during the monitoring project off the Israeli Mediterranean coast during 1988-1999. Classification as in
Eschmeyer, 1998. Families arranged in alphabetic order.
Family Species no. of spec. % of the total
Bythitidae Cataetyx laticeps Koefoed, 1927 1 0.2
Centrophoridae Centrophorus granulosus (Schneider, 1801) 1 0.2
Chimaeridae Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758 1 0.2
Dalatiidae Etmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758) 26 5.8
Gonostomatidae Cyclothone pygmaea Jespersen & Tåning, 1926 10 2.2
Heterenchelyidae Panturichthys fowleri (Ben-Tuvia, 1953) 1 0.2
Hexanchidae Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) 1 0.2
Ipnopidae Bathypterois mediterraneus Bauchot, 1962 111 24.8
Macrouridae Coelorinchus coelorinchus (Risso, 1810) 1 0.2
Coelorinchus labiatus (Koehler, 1896) 17 3.8
Coryphaenoides guentheri (Vaillant, 1888) 5 1.1
Nezumia sclerorhynchus (Valenciennes, 1838) 132 29.5
Myctophidae Diaphus holti Tåning, 1918 4 0.9
Diaphus rafinesquei (Cocco, 1838) 1 0.2
Electrona rissoi (Cocco, 1829) 1 0.2
Hygophum hygomii (Lütken, 1892) 2 0.4
Lampanyctus crocodilus (Risso, 1810) 28 6.3
Nettastomatidae Nettastoma melanura Rafinesque, 1810 54 12.1
Notacanthidae Notacanthus bonapartei Risso, 1840 3 0.7
Polyacanthonotus rissoanus (Filippi & Vérany, 1859) 1 0.2
Ophidiidae Ophidion barbatum Linnaeus 1758 1 0.2
Paralepididae Paralepis speciosa Bellotti, 1878 3 0.7
Phosichthyidae Vinciguerria poweriae (Cocco, 1838) 9 2.0
Phycidae Phycis blennoides (Brünnich, 1768) 2 0.4
Squalidae Squalus acanthias Linnaeus, 1758 1 0.2
Squalus blainvillei (Risso, 1826) 1 0.2
Sternoptychidae Argyropelecus hemigymnus Cocco, 1829 6 1.3
Stomiidae Chauliodus sloani Schneider, 1801 9 2.0
Trachichthyidae Hoplostethus mediterraneus Cuvier, 1829 1 0.2
Scyliorhinidae Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810 13 2.9
TOTAL 447
151 Cybium 2002, 26(2)
goren & galil Cataetyx laticeps and Ophidion barbatum in the Mediterranean
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the eastern Mediterranean is much lower than that of the western STEFANESCU C., LLORIS D. & J. RUCABADO, 1990. - Primeras
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statement made by Stefanescu et al. (1992: 197) that « the Dysomma brevirostre (Osteichthyes, Synaphobranchidae) en
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comparison with the adjacent Atlantic Basin fauna » and we add 143.
that the deep water of the eastern Mediterranean is a deep-sea STEFANESCU C., LLORIS D. & J. RUCABADO, 1992. - Deep-
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acknowledgments. - This research was financed by the Israel
Electric Corporation LTD and Haifa Chemicals LTD; we grate-
fully acknowledge their generousity. We thank the captain and the
crew of the R/V Shikmona and Ms. D. Friedman. We also thank
Ms. N. Paz for editing the manuscript and to Mr. A. Shub for the Reçu le 01 mars 2000.
photograph. Accepté pour publication le 13 février 2002.
Cybium 2002, 26(2) 152