Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. A, Suppl. 7, pp. 1–9, March 22, 2013

Hoplichthys mimaseanus, a New Ghost Flathead from East Asia andWestern Australia (Teleostei: Hoplichthyidae)
Yuki Nagano1, Hiromitsu Endo2 and Mamoru Yabe3
1

Chair of Marine Biology and Biodiversity (Systematic Ichthyology),
Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University,
3–1–1 Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 041–8611, Japan
E-mail: yuki.ghost_ﬂatheads@ﬁsh.hokudai.ac.jp
2
Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Science, Kochi University,
2–5–1 Akebono-cho, Kochi 780–8520, Japan
E-mail: endoh@kochi-u.ac.jp
3
Laboratory of Marine Biology and Biodiversity (Systematic Ichthyology),
Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University,
3–1–1 Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 041–8611, Japan
E-mail: myabe@ﬁsh.hokudai.ac.jp

Abstract A new hoplichthyid species, Hoplichthys mimaseanus, is described on the basis of two
specimens (206.4–218.4 mm SL) collected from Tosa Bay, off Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku Island,
Japan and off Uotsuri-shima Island, Senkaku Islands, southern East China Sea. In addition, two
specimens collected from Western Australia are considered conspeciﬁc with this new species. The
new species is clearly distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: a long upper jaw exceeding posteriorly beyond base of posteriormost spine in outer row ofspines on ﬁrst infraorbital; knob-like gill rakers much shorter than interspaces between bases ofrakers; a few small spines on ventral surface of lower jaw; low ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn, tips of adpressed
spines not reaching to origin of second dorsal ﬁn; posterior margin of caudal ﬁn with distinctly
rounded central portion demarcated by notches on upper and lower lobes; ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn yellow,
with white anterior and posterior margins in fresh specimens. Form of caudal ﬁn and coloration ofﬁrst dorsal ﬁn are unique characters to H. mimaseanus in the genus.
Key words : Hoplichthys mimaseanus, Hoplichthyidae, new species, Tosa Bay, East China Sea,
Western Australia.

Ghost ﬂatheads of the genus Hoplichthys
inhabit the continental shelf and slope at depthsof 50–1500 m in the western Paciﬁc and Indian
oceans. Hoplichthys is characterized by anextremely depressed head, the dorsal surface
covered with many spines and serrated ridges, anelongated and mostly scaleless body, a single
row of spines along lateral scutes on the body,and lowest three or four pectoral-ﬁn rays free.
The genus is composed of 10 valid species, ﬁveof which are known from Japan and adjacentwaters (Nakabo, 2002; Nelson, 2006): Hoplichthys
langsdorﬁi Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes,
1829; Hoplichthys gilberti Jordan and Richardson, 1908; Hoplichthys regani Jordan, 1908;

Hoplichthys fasciatus Matsubara, 1937; andHoplichthys ﬁlamentosus Matsubara and Ochiai,
1950.
In November of 2007, we obtained a single
specimen of an undescribed species of Hoplichthys while sampling at Mimase ﬁsh market of
Kochi City, Japan (Fig. 1). The specimen resembles H. gilberti, H. regani, and a Hawaiian species, Hoplichthys citrinus Gilbert, 1905, in having a short snout, a narrow interorbit and largeeyes, but differs from them in other morphological characters (e.g., the length of gill rakers, theform of caudal ﬁn, the coloration of the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn). Subsequently we found a second specimen of the same species deposited in the ﬁsh2

Y. Nagano, H. Endo and M. Yabe

collection of Academia Sinica, Taiwan (ASIZP).
This specimen was collected from southern East
China Sea, off the Senkaku Islands in 2004. Furthermore we found more two specimens considered conspeciﬁc with this species. The two specimens are collected from Western Australia, off
Point Cloates, and deposited in the ﬁsh collectionof Australian Museum (AMS). We herein
describe a new species of the genus Hoplichthys
based on these specimens.
Materials and Methods
Counts and proportional measurements follow
Hubbs and Lagler (1958), except: body depth,
which is measured at the origin of the ﬁrst dorsal
ﬁn; body width at the origin of the second dorsal
ﬁn; the lengths of the dorsal- and anal-ﬁn bases

from the base of the ﬁrst ray to the base of thelast ray, excluding the terminal ﬁn membrane;
the pectoral-ﬁn length from the base to the tip ofthe longest pectoral-ﬁn ray; the length of theupper caudal peduncle is from the end of the second dorsal-ﬁn base, not including the terminal
ﬁn membrane, to the center of caudal-ﬁn base;the head depth at mid-point between the parietal
spines on both sides; the preoptic snout lengthfrom the anterior tip of the snout to the anterioredge of the eye; and the preorbital snout lengthfrom the anterior tip of the snout to the anterioredge of the orbit. Lachrymal spines are counted
only along the upper row. Inner and outer row
spines on ﬁrst infraorbital are the number ofspines on the dorsal side of the ﬁrst infraorbital.
Gill rakers were counted on the outer row of theﬁrst gill arch of the right side. Vertebrae and cau-

Fig. 1. Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov., NSMT-P 109034, holotype, male, 218.4 mm SL. A, lateral view infresh condition; B, dorsal view in fresh condition; C, illustration in dorsal view. Photographs by N. Nakayama.

New Species of Hoplichthys

dal-ﬁn rays were counted from radiographs. Sex
was determined by microscopic examination of
gonads (no sectioning of gonads was undertaken). Measurements were made with calipers
and dividers to the nearest 0.1 mm. Standard andhead lengths are abbreviated as SL and HL,
respectively. Counts of spines on the head areshown as “left side/right side”. The pectoral-ﬁn
ray count is shown as “joined pectoral-ﬁn rays＋
free pectoral-ﬁn rays＝total pectoral-ﬁn rays”.
Terminology for spines on the dorsal side of headis shown in Fig. 2, following Nagano et al.
(2012). Institution abbreviations follow Eschmeyer (1998), except for Hokkaido University
Museum, Hakodate (HUMZ) and National
Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba(NSMT).
Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov.
[New English name: Mimaseʼs ghost ﬂathead][New Japanese name: Mimase-harigochi](Figs. 1–5)

Holotype. NSMT-P 109034 (formerly BSKU

392004), 218.4 mm SL, male, Mimase ﬁsh market, Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, 200–
300 m depth, offshore trawl, coll. by N.
Nakayama, 1 Nov. 2007.
Paratype. ASIZP 63198, 206.4 mm SL,
female, southern East China Sea, near Uotsurishima, Senkaku Islands, 300–500 m depth, coll.
by H. Ho, 24 Apr. 2004.
Non-types. AMS I.31156–003, 2 specimens,
179.1–182.8 mm SL, female and male, 23°25.4′S,113°03.9′E–23°23.6′S, 113°05.1′E, off Point
Cloates, Western Australia, 300–302 m depth,
coll. by J. Paxton, 26 Jan. 1991.
Diagnosis. A new species of Hoplichthys withthe following combination of characters: shortpreoptic snout (30.4–32.0% HL); large eyes
(23.4–26.1% HL); narrow interorbit (2.9–3.7%
HL); long maxilla exceeding beyond base of posteriormost spine in outer row of spines on ﬁrst
infraorbital; gill rakers shorter than interspace
between bases of rakers; a few small spines onventral surface of lower jaw; single developed
spine on each lateral scute; low ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn,
its adpressed tips not reaching to origin of second

Fig. 2. Dorsal illustration of head of Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov., showing series of spines and ridges. 1,
row of spines on lachrymal; 2, inner row of spines on the ﬁrst infraorbital; 3, outer row of spines on the ﬁrst
infraorbital; 4, inner row of spines on the second infraorbital; 5, outer row of spines on the second infraorbital;
6, preopercular spines; 7, opercular spine; 8, parietal spines; 9, posttemporal spines; 10, humeral spine; 11,
spines on lateral scutes. Bar indicates 10 mm.

4

Y. Nagano, H. Endo and M. Yabe

dorsal ﬁn; short ﬁrst free pectoral-ﬁn ray (13.4–
14.9% SL); and posterior margin of caudal ﬁnwith rounded central portion demarcated bynotches on upper and lower lobes.
Description. Data for holotype are presented
ﬁrst, followed by that of paratype and non-types
in parentheses if different: dorsal-ﬁn rays VI-15;
anal-ﬁn rays 17; caudal-ﬁn rays 6＋6＝12; pectoral-ﬁn rays 13＋3＝16; pelvic-ﬁn rays I, 5; gillrakers 2＋11＝13 (2＋12＝14); branchiostegals
7; vertebrae 26; lateral scutes 27. Head spines(Fig. 2): spines on lachrymal 11/10 (9–11/10);
inner row spines on ﬁrst infraorbital 16/16 (13–
19/15); outer row spines on ﬁrst infraorbital
11/10 (10–11/8–14); inner row spines on second
infraorbital 22/22 (22–25/18–25); outer row
spines on second infraorbital 17/17 (16–18/14–
19); preopercular spines 7/7 (8/8–9); spines onventral surface of lower jaw 3/2 (3–5/2–5). Proportional measurements as % SL: HL 29.5 (30.7–32.0); body depth 7.8 (7.4–7.6); body width 9.4(8.9–9.7); pre-ﬁrst dorsal length 30.0 (29.7–
30.9); length of ﬁrst dorsal-ﬁn base 8.2 (7.8–8.3); length of ﬁrst dorsal-ﬁn spine 10.4 (7.8 inmale, 8.1 in female); length of second dorsal-ﬁnspine 11.8 (broken in male, 7.4 in female); lengthof sixth dorsal-ﬁn spine 4.2 (2.7 in male, 3.6 infemale); pre-second dorsal length 44.6 (43.8–
46.1); length of second dorsal-ﬁn base 46.6
(43.2–44.8); length of ﬁrst dorsal-ﬁn soft ray
12.3 (10.9–11.4 in female); length of fourth dorsal-ﬁn soft ray 32.2 (28.3 in male, 11.5 infemale); length of sixth dorsal-ﬁn soft ray 28.0
(36.9 in male, 10.8–11.1 in female); length ofeighth dorsal-ﬁn soft ray 12.1 (12.6 in male,
10.6–11.3 in female); length of 15th dorsal-ﬁn
soft ray 9.4 (10.6 in male, 6.1–6.2 in female);pre-anal length 43.0 (43.1–45.8); length of analﬁn base 50.0 (46.6–48.3); length of ﬁrst anal-ﬁn
ray 3.8 (3.3–3.6); length of 17th anal-ﬁn ray 6.5(6.1–6.9); pectoral-ﬁn length 21.3 (19.5–21.6);
length of ﬁrst free pectoral-ﬁn ray 13.4 (14.5–14.9); pelvic-ﬁn length 13.0 (11.4–13.6); caudal
peduncle depth 1.8 (1.6–1.8); length of upper
caudal peduncle 11.4 (11.2–12.2); length of caudal peduncle 8.4 (8.3–9.4); caudal-ﬁn length 17.1

(14.8–16.5). Proportional measurements as %HL: head depth 24.1 (21.6–24.8); head width atanterior margin of eye 43.9 (43.6–46.1); headwidth at inner base of posteriormost preopercularspine 56.0 (49.6–59.8); head width at outer baseof posteriormost preopercular spine 65.3 (64.3–
74.0); preoptic snout length 32.0 (30.4–31.1);
preorbital snout length 23.3 (21.1–24.3); orbital
diameter 35.5 (34.8–38.0); vertical eye diameter
23.4 (25.8–26.1); horizontal eye diameter 15.7
(18.2–19.2); interorbital width 2.9 (3.3–3.7);
postorbital length 47.9 (43.9–45.2); upper jaw
length 34.3 (36.0–36.7); lower jaw length 34.1
(32.4–35.3); length between upper edges of opercles on either side 25.1 (21.9).
Head extremely depressed, depth 2.7 (3.0–3.1)
in width at outer base of posteriormost preopercular spine. Body elongate, slightly depressed,
naked except for lateral scutes on lateral side ofbody; depth at origin of ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn 1.2 (1.2–
1.3) in body width at origin of second dorsal ﬁn.
Snout paddle-like; preoptic snout length longer
than vertical eye diameter, 1.5 (1.4–1.5) in postorbital length. Anterior nostril located mesial tocentral part of lachrymal, possessing short tube
and small cirrus on posterior margin; posterior
nostril slit-like, located mesial to posterior edgeof lachrymal, slightly smaller than anterior nostril. Single cephalic sensory pore locatedanteromesial to both nostrils (Fig. 3). Upper jaw
long, length slightly longer than preoptic snout
length; posterior edge of maxilla exceeding
beyond anterior margin of eye and base of posteriormost spine in outer row of spines on ﬁrst
infraorbital (Fig. 4). Teeth villiform, forming
tooth bands on jaws, vomer and palatines. Anterior margin of tongue rounded. Eye large; vertical eye diameter 1.4 (1.2) in preoptic snout
length. Interorbit narrow and concave; interorbital width 7.9 (7.0–7.9) in vertical eye diameter.
Posterior margin of opercle relatively rounded.
Lower margin of branchiostegal membrane fusedwith isthmus. Gill rakers extremely short andknob-like; length of each raker shorter than interspace between bases of rakers (Fig. 5); many
minute spines on each raker. Many spines andNew Species of Hoplichthys5Fig. 3. Dorsal view of left side of snout in Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov., NSMT-P 109034, holotype. AN,
anterior nostril; CSP, cephalic sensory pore; PN, posterior nostril. Bar indicates 1 mm.

ﬁnely serrated ridges on dorsal surface of head(Fig. 2). Single paired rows of spines on dorsal
mid-line of snout. Serrated ridges situated anterior to eye and interorbit, ridges ending at posterior margin of orbit; two large spines on posterior
margin of orbit (large spine present or absent).
Dorsal surface of lachrymal with small spines.
Two rows of spines laterally on lachrymal; spines
in upper row more numerous and larger thanthose in lower row; anteriormost spine in upperrow slightly developed, directed forward; poste-

riormost spines largest, directed posterolaterally;spines between anteriormost and posteriormost
spines small, directed upward; spines in lower
row uniform size, directed downward. Two rowsof spines dorsally on ﬁrst infraorbital, inner row
directed upward and outer row directed laterally;spines in outer row larger than these in inner row,
becoming progressively larger posteriorly. Tworows (a single row) of small spines on ventral
side of ﬁrst infraorbital directed downward. Tworows of spines on second infraorbital, inner row

6

Y. Nagano, H. Endo and M. Yabeon dorsal surface and outer row on lateral side;
spines in inner row directed upward, posteriormost spine largest, (accompanied by sparse small
spines posteriorly and mesially); spines in outerrow directed laterally, becoming progressively
larger posteriorly. Outer rows of spines on ﬁrst
and second infraorbitals separated. Small spines
sparsely (sparsely or densely) scattered on dorsal
surface of third and fourth infraorbitals. Single
spine present (present or absent) at center of third
infraorbital. Single row of preopercular spines
present laterally; penultimate spine developed,
directed posteriorly; posteriormost spine largest,
directed strongly posterodorsally, not reaching toposterior margin of opercle; other spines small,directed laterally. Two rows of small spines on
dorsal surface of preopercle directed laterally
from inner edge of preopercle. Single opercularspine developed, not reaching to posterior marginof opercle. Radially arranged, ﬁnely serrated
ridges directed posteriorly from anterodorsal corner of opercle; two ridges especially developed,
outer ridge accompanied by opercular spine, andinner ridge directed toward posterior margin of
opercle. Single pair of well developed parietal

spines on occiput, with serrated ridges radiatingfrom them. Several posttemporal spines present
anterior to well developed spine on ﬁrst lateralscute; serrated ridges radiating anteriorly fromposttemporal spines. A few small spines buried
under skin on ventral surface of lower jaw posterior to maxilla, directed anteroventrally (Fig. 4).
Single humeral spine posterior to opercle, without (with one to three or without) small spines on
its anterior margin. Single row of lateral scuteson body; single well developed spine directed
upward and backward centrally on each scute,with single small spine directed posteriorly at its
base; terminal scute extending to caudal ﬁn base.
One or two anteromesially directed serrated
ridges on upper part of each lateral scute. First
dorsal ﬁn low, originating above second lateralscute (at junction between second and third lateral scutes) and ending above sixth lateral scute(seventh lateral scute); length of ﬁrst dorsal-ﬁnbase 3.6 (3.9–4.0) in HL; tips of adpressed dorsal-ﬁn spines not reaching to origin of second
dorsal ﬁn; second (ﬁrst) dorsal-ﬁn spine longest
and third (second) to sixth dorsal-ﬁn spines
becoming progressively shorter posteriorly. Sec-

Fig. 4. Ventral illustration of head of Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov., NSMT-P 109034, holotype. Spines onventral surface of lower jaw are circled; solid and broken lines indicate posterior edges of base of outer row
spines on ﬁrst infraorbital and maxilla, respectively. Bar indicates 10 mm.

New Species of Hoplichthys

7Fig. 5. Lateral view of ﬁrst gill arch on right side of Hoplichthys mimaseanus sp. nov., NSMT-P 109034, holotype,showing gill rakers. Bar indicates 1 mm.

ond dorsal ﬁn originating above junction
between ninth and 10th lateral scutes, and ending
beyond 23rd lateral scute; length of second dorsal-ﬁn base 1.1 in length of anal-ﬁn base; third toseventh dorsal-ﬁn soft rays elongated and ﬁlamentosus, with eighth to 15th dorsal-ﬁn soft rays
becoming progressively shorter posteriorly inmale holotype; (ﬁrst to ninth dorsal-ﬁn soft rays
subequal and 10th to 15th dorsal-ﬁn soft rays
becoming progressively shorter posteriorly infemale). Pectoral ﬁn originating at posterior edgeof opercle, reaching to junction between 11th and12th lateral scutes (11th or junction between 11thand 12th lateral scutes); third (fourth) ray longest, length 1.4 (1.4–1.6) in HL. Lower threerays of pectoral ﬁn thick and free, shorter thanremaining joined pectoral-ﬁn rays; ﬁrst free pectoral-ﬁn ray, viz., 14th pectoral-ﬁn ray, longest,
not reaching (or reaching) to anus; its length 2.2(2.1) in HL. Pelvic-ﬁn base anterior to pectoralﬁn base; distal edge of pelvic ﬁn reaching to
below sixth lateral scute; its length 2.3 (2.3–2.7)
in HL. Anal ﬁn lower than second dorsal ﬁn,originating below ninth lateral scute (at junction
between ninth and 10th lateral scutes), ending
below 24th lateral scute; ﬁrst anal-ﬁn ray especially short, its length 1.7 (1.7–1.9) in length oflast anal-ﬁn ray. Caudal ﬁn rounded, central portion of posterior margin extended; single notch
on upper and lower lobes; depth of caudal peduncle 9.3 (8.0–9.5) in caudal-ﬁn length. Anusslightly anterior to origin of anal ﬁn.
Color in alcohol (holotype). Head and bodybrown dorsally, yellowish brown ventrally. Body
with three obscure dark brownish bands dorsally.

Color of ﬁrst and second dorsal ﬁn and caudal
ﬁn when fresh disappeared. Pelvic ﬁn and basal
region of anal ﬁn yellowish-brown. Membraneof pectoral ﬁn, distal margin of anal ﬁn and posterior margin of caudal ﬁn dark brown.
Color when fresh (based on photographs, Figs.
1A, B). Dorsal surface of head and body lightbrown, scattered with irregular yellowish markings; ventral side white. Body with three indistinct brownish bands dorsally. First dorsal ﬁnyellow with white anterior and posterior margins.
Second dorsal ﬁn translucent yellow. Pectoral ﬁnlight brown, same color as body, with obscureyellowish blotches. Anal ﬁn translucent, whitebasally and red distally. Upper lobe of caudal ﬁnwhite with indistinct yellowish bands, lower lobeorangish or yellowish.
Distribution. Central Tosa Bay, off Kochi, at
depths of about 200–300 m (Mimaseʼs offshore
trawling usually ﬁsh around 200–300 m), southern East China Sea, around Senkaku Islands, at
depths of about 300–500 m, and northwestern
Australia, at depth of about 300 m.
Etymology. Named for the ﬁsh market in
Kochi City, Mimase, where the holotype wascollected.
Remarks. Among the 10 currently recognizedspecies in the genus Hoplichthys, H. mimaseanus
is most similar to H. citrinus, H. gilberti and H.
regani in having a short snout, large eyes, a narrow interorbit, a single spine on each lateralscute, and a short pectoral ﬁn not elongated nor
ﬁlamentous. Hoplichthys mimaseanus differsfrom H. citrinus, H. gilberti and H. regani inhaving a few small spines on the ventral surface

8

Y. Nagano, H. Endo and M. Yabe

Fig. 6. Lateral view of ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn of Hoplichthys gilberti, BSKU 92589, male, 159.8 mm SL.

of the lower jaw (Fig. 4) (vs. developed spines in
the latters), short gill rakers, the length of eachraker shorter than the interspace between basesof rakers (Fig. 5) (vs. longer than the interspace)and a low ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn, the posterior tip of theadpressed ﬁn not reaching to the origin of thesecond dorsal ﬁn in males (vs. tall, the posterior
tip reaching to the origin). Hoplichthys mimaseanus is also distinguished from these three species
in having the posterior margin of the caudal ﬁnwith a rounded and extended central portion
demarcated by notches on the upper and lower
lobes (vs. truncated or slightly rounded, without
notches on the posterior margin of the ﬁnlobes),
and the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn yellow with white anterior
and posterior margins in males (Fig. 1A) (vs. yellow with a large black blotch at the base of theposterior dorsal-ﬁn spines in H. citrinus, yellow
with a few white lines or spots running obliquelyin H. gilberti (Fig. 6), and with obscure dark
spots forming rows across both rays and membranes in H. regani) (Gilbert, 1905; Jordan andRichardson, 1908). These two characters are
unique to H. mimaseanus within the genus.
Cephalic sensory pores anteromesial to theanterior and posterior nostrils are known only in
H. mimaseaus among Japanese Hoplichthys species: H. langsdorﬁi, H. gilberti, H. regani, H.
fasciatus and H. ﬁlamentosus. These sensory
pores have not been mentioned in treatments ofother Hoplichthys.
Comparative materials. Hoplichthys citrinus(7 specimens): USNM 51610 (holotype, 152.1 mm
SL), USNM 51670 (paratype, 154.6 mm SL),USNM 51704 (paratypes, 5 specimens, 135.0–
184.6 mm SL), off Hawaii. Hoplichthys gilberti(11 specimens): USNM 51271 (holotype,127.0 mm SL), SU 20229 (paratypes, 2 specimen, 109.5–161.8 mm SL), USNM 398507(paratypes, 7 specimens, 78.2–139.6 mm SL),
Suruga Bay; BSKU 92589 (159.8 mm SL), Tosa
Bay. Hoplichthys regani (1 specimen): SU 22390(holotype, 144.6 mm SL), off Kagoshima Prefecture.
Acknowledgments
We greatly appreciate M. F. Gomon (NMV)
for his critical reading of this manuscript. Our
sincere thanks go to N. Nakayama (BSKU) for
providing color photographs of the Holotype. We
especially wish to acknowledge M. A.
McGrouther (AMS) for his help observing specimens and for providing valuable comments on
hoplichthyid ﬁshes. We are grateful to H. Ho(National Museum of Marine Biology andAquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan), K. Shao and P.
Lin (ASIZP), D. Bray (NMV) and A. Graham(CSIRO) for their help searching for specimens.
We are deeply indebted to T. Iwamoto and D.
Catania (CAS), and J. T. Williams, D. G. Smith,J. M. Clayton, J. Finan and S. Raredon (USNM)
for the opportunity to examine comparative
materials. We also express sincere thanks to H.
Imamura (HUMZ) for offering helpful advice.
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Manuscript received 14 August 2012; revised 20 November 2012; accepted 13 December 2012.
Associate editor: K. Matsuura