Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. A, Suppl. 7, pp. 25–30, March 22, 2013

Ammodytoides kanazawai, a New Species of Sand Lance(Perciformes: Ammodytidae) fromthe Ogasawara Islands, Japan
Koichi Shibukawa1 and Hitoshi Ida2
1
Nagao Natural Environment Foundation,
3–10–10 Shitaya, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110–0004, Japan
E-mail: kshibukawa@nagaofoundation.or.jp
2
School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University,
1–15–1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252–0373, Japan
E-mail: palau-sakana@ab.cyberhome.ne.jp

Abstract A new sand lance Ammodytoides kanazawai is described based on a single specimen,
collected by a sledge net at the depths of 95–99 m off the southern coast of Chichi-jima Island,Ogasawara Islands, Japan. It is distinguished from the congeners by having the following combination of characters: dorsal-ﬁn rays 50; anal-ﬁn rays 23; pectoral-ﬁn rays 16; pored lateral-line
scales ca. 107 or 108; gill rakers 5＋21; vertebrae 34＋26＝60; head length 23.7% of SL; no
scales on operculum; anterior interorbital pores opening at tip of a short branch of supraorbital
canal; supratemporal commissure of lateral canal with 3 pores; numerous ﬁne black dots on dorsaland anal-ﬁn membranes after the eighteenth and third rays, respectively. In the Ogasawara Islands,
a congener A. kimurai was found in much shallower areas (10–15 m depth), and A. kanazawai isthus second known species of the genus around the islands; it represents the ﬁrst case that a coupleof species of Ammodytoides co-occur in a single geographic area.
Key words : Ammodytoides kanazawai, new species, Ammodytidae, Ogasawara Islands.

Sand lances of the genus Ammodytoides
Duncker and Mohr, 1939 are small (＜170 mm
SL), elongate and silvery marine ﬁshes, found intemperate to tropical areas of the Indo-Paciﬁcand eastern Paciﬁc regions. The genus, redeﬁned
by Ida et al. (1994), is distinguished from theother ammodytid genera by having the following
combination of characters (Ida and Randall,
1993; Ida et al., 1994; Collette and Randall,
2000; Collette and Robertson, 2001; Randall andEarle, 2008): 45–53 dorsal-ﬁn rays; 21–25 analﬁn rays; dorsal and anal-ﬁn rays branched atleast in adult, except for anterior 1–2 rays in eachﬁn; pelvic ﬁns absent; ventro-lateral skin fold on
body absent; infraorbital canal interrupted below
eye; lateralis system on head continuous with lateral line of body; lateral line ending high on caudal peduncle; no teeth on jaws; labial ossicles
and supraneural bones present; haemal and neural spines of caudal vertebrae expanded distally;

olfactory rosettes absent. The following 9 species
were currently assigned to Ammodytoides (Idaand Randall, 1993; Ida et al., 1994; Randall etal., 1994; Winterbottom and Anderson, 1997;
Collette and Randall, 2000; Randall and Earle,
2008; Randall and Heemstra, 2008): A. vagus(McCulloch and Waite, 1916) from Lord Howe
Island and New South Wales; A. gilli (Bean,
1895) from the eastern tropical Paciﬁc; A. renniei (Smith, 1957) from southeastern Africa; A.
kimurai Ida and Randall, 1993 from the Ogasawara Islands; A. pylei Randall, Ida and Earle,
1994 from the Hawaiian Islands; A. leptus Collette and Randall, 2000 from Pitcairn Island; A.
idai Randall and Earle, 2008 from Papua New
Guinea; A. praematura Randall and Earle, 2008
from the Chagos Archipelago; A. xanthops Randall and Earle, 2008 from off Mozambique. A
key to these 9 described species of Ammodytoides
was provided by Randall and Heemstra (2008).

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K. Shibukawa and H. Ida

During a biological survey carried out in the
Ogasawara Islands and the adjacent waters by
TR/V Seiyo-maru [Tokyo University of Fisheries(now Tokyo University of Marine Science andTechnology), Tokyo] in 1995, a single small
specimen (63.2 mm SL) of Ammodytoides wascollected by a sledge net from the sandy bottom
at the depths of 95–99 m off the southern coast of
Chichi-jima Island. The specimen was readily
identiﬁed as a species of Ammodytoides by having all diagnostic characters of the genus listed
above, except for branched dorsal- and anal-ﬁnrays (it appears to be effected by its small bodysize; see “Remarks,” below). In the Ogasawara
Islands, a single species of the genus, A. kimurai,
was previously reported from the shallower areas(10–15 m depth) by Ida and Randall (1993), butseveral morphological features of this newlyobtained specimen did not match with those of A.
kimurai. Subsequent our research revealed thatthe species, herein described as new, is distinct
from all described species of Ammodytoides.
Methods of measurements and counts follow
Ida and Randall (1993) and Randall et al. (1994).
Scales (except for predorsal scales), paired-ﬁnrays, gill rakers, pseudobranchial ﬁlaments andbranchiostegal rays were counted on both sides;

Fig. 1. Preserved specimen of Ammodytoides kanazawai
sp. nov. NSMT-P 48606, holotype, 63.2 mm SL,
southern off Chichi-jima Island, Ogasawara
Islands, Japan. Photographed by K. Shibukawa.

the values are separated by a slash, the ﬁrst value
representing the left count. Notation of cephalicsensory canals and pores follows Takagi (1989).
The specimen examined is deposited in the
National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba (NSMT).
Ammodytoides kanazawai sp. nov.
[New Japanese name: Gomahire-minami-ikanago](Figs. 1–3)

Holotype. NSMT-P 48606, 63.2 mm SL, offsouthern Chichi-jima Island, Ogasawara Islands,
Japan (27°1.74′N, 142°12.48′E to 27°1.78′N,142° 12.62′E), 95–99 m depth, sledge net, TR/V
Seiyo-maru, 19 June 1995, collected by T.
Kanazawa.
Diagnosis. The new species Ammodytoides
kanazawai differs from the congeners in having
the following combination of characters: dorsalﬁn rays 50; anal-ﬁn rays 23; pectoral-ﬁn rays 16;
pored lateral-line scales ca. 107 or 108; gill rakers 5＋21; vertebrae 34＋26＝60; head length
23.7% of SL; no scales on operculum; anterior
interorbital pores opening at tip of a short branchof supraorbital canal; supratemporal commissureof lateral canal with 3 pores; numerous ﬁne black
dots on dorsal- and anal-ﬁn membranes after theeighteenth and third rays, respectively.
Description. Dorsal-ﬁn rays 50, all rays
unbranched, except for the last ray branched tothe base; anal-ﬁn rays 23, all rays unbranched,
except for the last ray branched to the base; pectoral-ﬁn rays 16/16, at least lower 3/2 rays
unbranched (dorsal part of pectoral ﬁns damaged
on both sides, but at least fourth to thirteenth rays

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of Ammodytoides kanazawai sp. nov. (NSMT-P 48606, holotype, 63.2 mm SL). Note thatmany scales on body are missing in the specimen, but reproduced based on scale pockets in this illustration. Drawn
by K. Shibukawa.

New Sand Lance from Ogasawara

27

Fig. 3. Dorsal and lateral views of head of Ammodytoides kanazawai sp. nov. (NSMT-P 48606, holotype, 63.2 mm SL),showing the cephalic sensory canals and pores. Drawn by K. Shibukawa. Open and solid arrows indicate 2 anterior
interorbital pores of supraorbital canal (opening at tip of short branch) and 3 pores of supratemporal commissure oflateral canal, respectively.

branched on left side); no pelvic ﬁns; principal
caudal-ﬁn rays 8＋7, the uppermost and lowermost rays unbranched; upper procurrent rays of
caudal ﬁn 17, all unsegmented except for posterior 4 rays; lower procurrent rays of caudal ﬁn
14, all unsegmented except for posterior 4 rays;
tubed (pored) lateral-line scales ca. 107 or 108;
scales above lateral line to origin of dorsal ﬁn3/3; ca.15 or 16 scales below lateral line to originof anal ﬁn; predorsal scales 13; gill rakers
5＋21/5＋21; pseudobranchial ﬁlaments 16/15;
branchiostegal rays 7/7; vertebrae 34＋26＝60;
predorsal vertebrae 4; postdorsal vertebrae 12;vertebrae posterior to anal ﬁn 10; supraneural(predorsal) bones 2; ﬁrst 2 dorsal pterygiophores
in space between fourth and ﬁfth neural spines;
neural and haemal spines of vertebrae of caudal
peduncle expanded distally; a broad gap in suborbital series between the ﬁrst and remaining
suborbitals.
The following measurements are % of SL:

head length 23.7; snout length 6.7; orbit diameter
4.3; interorbital width 3.9; upper jaw length 7.9;
body depth 9.3; body width 6.6; caudal-peduncle
depth 5.5; caudal-peduncle length 10.2; predorsal
length 25.1; preanal length 65.4; length of ﬁrst
dorsal-ﬁn ray 3.7; length of second dorsal-ﬁn ray
5.0; length of longest dorsal-ﬁn ray 7.9; length oflast dorsal-ﬁn ray 4.9; length of ﬁrst anal-ﬁn ray
4.0; length of second anal-ﬁn ray 5.7; length of
longest anal-ﬁn ray 7.1; length of last anal-ﬁn
ray 3.8; caudal-ﬁn length 13.5; length of caudal
concavity 6.3; pectoral-ﬁn length 8.1.
Body elongate and slightly compressed; a longitudinal ventro-lateral fold not developed. Headpointed (the protruding lower jaw forming theapex of the angle of the head) and compressed.
Snout longer than eye diameter, its length 28.2 %of head length. Interorbotal width 90.0 % of eye
diameter. Lower jaw projecting, sharply pointed
when viewed from above, or slightly roundedfrom the side; jaws extending slightly posterior

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K. Shibukawa and H. Ida

to a vertical line through anterior margin of eye,but not reaching below pupil; premaxilla protrusible; gape slightly oblique, forming an angleof about 25 degrees to body axis; no teeth onjaws, vomer and palatines; labial ossicles present. Lips thin; upper lips continuous around frontof snout; lower lips not continuous, attached tolower jaw slightly posterior to a vertical line
through anterior tip of upper jaw. Tongue shortand broad, the tip rounded. Gill rakers long andslender, the longest at angle about equal in length
to longest gill ﬁlament on ﬁrst gill arch andslightly longer than pupil diameter. Nares on
middle of upper side of snout, slightly above an
oblique line from upper edge of eye to tip ofsnout; anterior naris with a ﬂeshy rim, its opening slightly larger than that of posterior naris;
posterior naris a pore; anterior and posteriornares broadly separated, the internarial space
subequal to pupil diameter. Gill opening broad,extending anteriorly to a vertical through centerof eye; gill membranes free from isthmus; nospines on opercle; opercular ﬂap long, broadly
rounded, extending posteriorly to upper edge ofpectoral-ﬁn base; free membranous ventral margin of preopercle nearly extending to a verticalline through anterior edge of pupil.
Scales small, thin and cycloid and forming diagonal straight lines of anterodorsal-posteroventral
direction; head naked; scales on nape extending
anteriorly a little beyond a vertical line throughupper end of free margin of preopercle; scales onnape forming V-shaped pattern when viewed
from dorsal, the angle of the V increasingly acuteanteriorly; lateral line with a short horizontal part
anteriorly, then angling upward to below originof dorsal ﬁn, continuing along upper side parallel
to dorsal contour of body; tubed (pored) lateralline scales ending about midlength of caudal
peduncle (5–7 scales before base of caudal ﬁn);lateral-line tubes simple, without branches above
or below; ﬁns naked except caudal ﬁn coveredby small scales basally.
Origin of dorsal ﬁn above lateral-line scale 11
or precaudal vertebra 7; dorsal-ﬁn rays progressively longer to about ray 45; base of last dorsal-

ﬁn ray above caudal vertebra 17; origin of analﬁn below base of dorsal-ﬁn ray 31 or second
caudal vertebra; third anal-ﬁn ray longest; baseof last anal-ﬁn ray below caudal vertebra 19;
caudal ﬁn forked, its length 56.8% of headlength; pectoral ﬁn low on body, the upper baseat level of lower edge of orbit; fourth or ﬁfth
pectoral-ﬁn ray longest; pelvic ﬁn absent.
Cephalic lateralis system shown in Fig. 3;
infraorbital canal broadly interrupted at midway;
2 anterior interorbital pores, opening at tip of ashort branch of supraorbital canal; supratmporal
canal with 3 pores; lateralis system on head continuous with lateral line of body.
Color in alcohol. Head and body pale brown,slightly darker dorsally; dorsal- and anal-ﬁnmembranes after the eighteenth and third rays
with numerous ﬁne black dots; caudal ﬁn withnumerous ﬁne melanophores (not forming dotsor spots), excluding posterior half of dorsal andventral lobes, upper procurrent-rays region, andanterior half of lower procurrent-rays region; theremaining parts of ﬁns pale.
Distribution. Ammodytoides kanazawai ispresently known only from the holotype collected from sandy bottom at the depths of
95–99 m off the southern coast of Chichi-jimaIsland, Ogasawara Islands, Japan.
Etymology. The new species is named for
Takeshi Kanazawa, who provided the opportunity to examine the holotype of the species to us.
Remarks. The new species Ammodytoides
kanazawai is known only from the small holotype (63.2 mm SL); it appears to be immature,and its sex is hard to determine. The holotype of
A. kanazawai has the unbranched dorsal andanal-ﬁn rays (except for the ultimate one in eachﬁn), but the condition might be effected by its
small body size. Collette and Robertson (2001)
reported that smaller specimens of A. gilli (42.3–
57.6 mm SL) lack branched rays in the dorsal andanal ﬁns.
In addition to Ammodytoides kanazawai, thefollowing 3 congeners are known to have numerous black dots on dorsal and anal ﬁns (Smith,
1957; Winterbottom et al., 1989; Collette andNew Sand Lance from Ogasawara

Robertson, 2001; Randall and Earle, 2008): A.
gilli (Eastern Paciﬁc), A. renniei (southeastern
Africa) and A. praematura (Chagos Archipelago,
Indian Ocean). The other 6 congeners lack any
black markings on anal ﬁns, and have a series ofprominent blackish spots at outer edge of dorsal
ﬁn (A. idai, A. kimurai, A. pylei and A. xanthops)
or no dark markings on dorsal ﬁn (A. leptus andA. vagus) (Ida and Randall, 1993; Randall et al.,
2004; Randall and Earle, 2008; Randall andHeemstra, 2008). Ammodytoides gilli has 44–47
dorsal-ﬁn rays (vs. 50 in A. kanazawai), 85–94
pored lateral-line scales (vs. ca. 107 or 108),
55–58 vertebrae (vs. 60) and head length 25.4–
27.8% SL (vs. 23.7% SL), A. renniei has 56–58
vertebrae (vs. 60) and some small scales on operculum (vs. absent), and A. praematura has 48
dorsal-ﬁn rays (vs. 50 in A. kanazawai), 24 analﬁn rays (vs. 23), 14 pectoral-ﬁn rays (vs. 16),
103–106 pored lateral-line scales (vs. ca. 107 or108), 5＋23 gill rakers (vs. 5＋21), 58 vertebrae(vs. 60), 6 predorsal vertebrae (vs. 4), 10 postdorsal vertebrae (vs. 12), 8 vertebrae posterior toanal ﬁn (vs. 10) and some small scales on operculum (vs. absent). Morphological data for A.
gilli, A. renniei and A. praematura are referredfrom those in Smith (1957), Collete and Robertson (2001), Randall and Earle (2008) and Randall and Heemstra (2008).
In the shallow coastal waters around the Ogasawara Islands, the other species of Ammodytoides,
i.e., A. kimurai, was found (Ida and Randall,1993). The discovery of the present new species
represents the ﬁrst case that a couple of speciesof Ammodytoides are found in a single geographic area, although their preferred water
depths appear to be different; namely, the holotype of A. kanazawai was collected at the depthsof 95–99 m, whereas 10–15 m in A. kimurai (Idaand Randall, 1993). Ammodytoides kimurai differs from A. kanazawai in having: 48–49 dorsalﬁn rays (vs. 50 in A. kanazawai); 14–15 pectoralﬁn rays (vs. 16); total 27–29 gill rakers (vs. 26);
anterior interorbital pores opening at main bodyof supraorbital canal (vs. opening at tip of a shortbranch of supraorbital canal); supratemporal29

commissure of lateral canal with 2 pores (vs. 3);
dorsal- and anal-ﬁn membranes after the eighteenth and third rays, respectively, with numerous ﬁne black dots (vs. dorsal ﬁn with a series of
black spots at the outer edge, and anal ﬁn pale).
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to T. Kanazawa (Oita Prefecture, Japan) for providing the holotype of Ammodytoides kanazawai. K. Matsuura and G. Shinohara(NSMT) assisted in registration of the holotype.
H. Kohno and M. Moteki (Tokyo University ofMarine Science and Technology, Japan) kindly
provided working space and facilities for examining specimens, when KS visited their laboratory.
Literature Cited
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leptus, a new species of sand lance (Teleostei: Ammodytidae) from Pitcairn Island. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 113(2): 397–400.
Collette, B. B. and D. R. Robertson. 2001. Redescriptionof Ammodytoides gilli, the tropical eastern Paciﬁc sandlance (Perciformes: Ammodytidae). Revista de Biologia Tropical, 49 (Suppl. 1): 111–115.
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Manuscript received 20 November 2012; revised 11
December 2012; accepted 16 January 2013.
Associate editor: K. Matsuura.