Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

A new record of the genus Lophotus(Lampridiformes: Lophotidae) in Taiwan
Keita Koeda1* and Hsuan-Ching Ho1,2
1National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan

2

Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong Hwa University, Pingtugn, Taiwan*Corresponding author. E-mail: hatampo@gmail.com

Abstract
Two specimens (304.0–441.4 mm standard length) of the species ofgenus Lophotus were recently collected from the southwestern Taiwan at theDong-gang Fish Market. Although all of the valid species of genus Lophotus
were estimated to be distributed circumglobal, substantiated records wereunknown from Taiwan. Therefore, morphology and fresh coloration of thecollected specimens are herein described as the first Taiwanese record of L.
guntheri.
Key words: Teleostei, taxonomy, distribution, Lophotus capellei, Lophotus
guntheri, Lophotus lacepede, Taiwan

Introduction

gland near the anus (Fitch & Lavenberg,1968). The taxonomy of Lophotus iscontentious for a longtime by the absenceof type specimens, lack of comparative
material, and oversight of previous
taxonomic treatments. However, Craig etal. (2004) showed difference of dorsal-fin
rays and vertebrae counts between thespecimens collected from the South, andNorthern/Eastern Pacific, and concluded
that there are two species of genus

The family Lophotidae, belonging tothe order Lampridiformes, are a group oflarge sized fishes uniquely characterizedby ribbon-like body that is strongly
elongated and compressed (Olney, 1999).
The genus Lophotus is characterized byhaving a large fleshy crest or horn that
extends from top of forehead. Species ofthis genus have a unique habit that canextrude a dark ink from a specialized55

Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

Lophotus in the Pacific Ocean. They also
indicated that Lophotus guntheri Johnson,
1882 is the oldest available name for thespecies distributed in the South Pacific.
Roberts (2012) followed their opinion,and recognized three valid species,
Lophotus capellei Temminck & Schlegel,
1845, L. guntheri, and Lophotus lacepede
Giorna, 1809.
Two specimens of Lophotus wererecently collected off south-western
Taiwan, and landed at Dong-gang fishingport. Although the genus is reported ofworldwide distribution without evidential
data (Eschmeyer et al., 2017), noconfirmed record is known from Taiwan
to date. The morphological characters of
two specimens from southern Taiwan
closely resembled to the South Pacificspecimens (L. guntheri) shown by Craiget al. (2004). Therefore, the specimens are
herein provisionally identified as L.
guntheri in the present study.

Taiwan. The specimens examined in thisstudy are deposited at National Museumof Marine Biology & Aquarium(NMMB-P).

Results
Family Lophotidae
Lophotus Giorna, 1809
Lophotus guntheri Johnson, 1882
貢氏冠帶魚Figure. 1, Table 1
Lophotus guntheri Johnson, 1882:177(type locality: Near Emu Bay,northwestern coast of Tasmania,Australia). Craig et al. 2004:63.
Specimens examined. NMMB-P21031,362.0 mm SL, 12 March 2014 andNMMB-P25983, 417.0 mm SL, 14 March2017; both trawled off Dong-gang (ca.
22°39ʹN, 133°40ʹE), southwestern Taiwan,ca. 30–60 m, mid-water trawl, coll. H.-C.
Ho.
Description of Taiwanese specimens.
Counts and measurements of the present
specimen are given in Table 1.
Body elongated ribbon-like, strongly
compressed laterally; body depth deepest
at pectoral-fin base, and slowly tapering
posteriorly to a narrow caudal peduncle.
Head remarkably rectangular, anterior
margin moderately projecting (stronger inNMMB-P21031), forming a large crest.
Eye large, rounded; anterior and posterior
nostrils in front of eye; interorbital spaceextremely convex and narrow. Mouth

Materials and Methods
Two specimens were collected fromDong-gang fishing port. Counts andmeasurements followed Craig et al. (2004)
and Hubbs & Lagler (1947), respectively.
Fin rays and vertebrae were counted fromthe radiographs. Measurements weremade to the nearest 0.1 mm withneedle-point calipers. Standard and headlengths are abbreviated as SL and HL,respectively. The morphological description
is based on the specimens collected from56

Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

small, strongly oblique, maxilla extending
to a vertical anterior half of eye, but notreaching to center of pupil; bands of smalland sharp teeth on upper and lower jaws.
Lateral line originating from tip of headcrest, running descent to just above gill
opening, and a straight line along the bodyaxil to the caudal-fin base. Body covered
with tiny deciduous cycloid scales.
Dorsal-fin base extremely long,originating at tip of head crest andextending to near caudal-fin base; firstdorsal-fin ray tiny, and second ray
predominantly longer and thicker thanother rays. Anal-fin small with a shortbase, located in a short distance before
caudal-fin base. Pectoral-fin situatedbelow gill opening, its tip not reaching thelateral line and its size larger than that ofanal fin. Pelvic fin rudimentary, located atventral margin behind pectoral fin. Caudal
fin small, but larger than anal fin. Anusright in front of anal-fin origin.
Coloration. When fresh, body andhead faint pink; interorbital area to snout
blackened; dorsal-fin membranes red
anteriorly, and translucent posteriorly;
anal and caudal fins pale; pectoral fin pink;
dorsal-fin base of anterior half of body
blackened; anus to anal-fin broadly
blackish (Fig. 1).
When preserved, body and head pale,dusky on dorsal 1/4 of body; interorbital
area to snout blackish; dorsal-fin basedusky; anus to anal-fin broadly strongly
blackish (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1. Fresh specimens of Lophotus guntheri from southwestern Taiwan. Upper:
NMMB-P21031, 362 mm SL; lower: NMMB-P25983, 417 mm SL.

57

Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

Distribution. Lophotus guntheri has
been recorded from New South Wales,
Tasmania in Australia, Johnston Island(Craig et al., 2004), and now Taiwan(present study).
Remarks. Taxonomy of the genus
Lophotus have been confounded due tothe absence of type specimens, lacks ofcomparative materials, and oversight ofprevious taxonomic treatments. Goode &Bean (1895) recognized three species forgenus Lophotus on the basis of colorationand two morphometric characters, degreeof connection of the dorsal and caudal finsand shape of the cranial crest. However,
Craig et al. (2004) studied the genetic data
and morphology of museum specimens
from
theSouthPacificandNorthern/Eastern Pacific, and argued thatthese two morphometric characters are notuseful for diagnosing the species. On theother hand, they suggested that there aredifferences in counts of dorsal-fin ray(214–229 in North/Eastern Pacific vs.
239–259 in South Pacific) and vertebra(123–144 vs. 141–152) between theregions in the Pacific Ocean. The countsof dorsal-fin rays and vertebrae of theTaiwanese specimens correspond wellwith the diagnostic characters of the South
Pacific specimens: 243 and 263 dorsal-fin
rays and 148 and 152 vertebrae. Craig etal. (2004) also indicated that these twoforms maybe not entirely allopatric,
whereas L. capellei and L. guntheri are
the oldest available name forNorth/Eastern Pacific and South Pacificpopulation, respectively. Roberts (2012)
followed their opinion and recognized
three valid species for the genus.
Although a fourth species, Lophotus
machadoi Miranda Ribeiro, 1927 (typelocality: Brazil), has been considered asvalid (Figueiredo et al. in Menezes et al.,2003), its status needs furtherinvestigation. Therefore, we follow thedata provided by Craig et al. (2004) andrecognize the two Taiwanese specimens as
L. guntheri.
As stated above, Lophotus guntheri
has not been previously recorded from
Taiwanese waters, as well as northern
Hemisphere. In addition, the similarcongener, Lophotus capellei, has beenrecorded from the scattered localities inNorth/Eastern Pacific Ocean and Hawaii
Islands (Craig et al., 2004). In the Western
Pacific Ocean, Hayashi (2013) followed
the opinion of Craig et al. (2004) andadapted L. capellei to the JapaneseLophotus
withoutcomparing
themorphology. They indicated L. capellei
have been reported occasionally in Japan,
from Rishiri Island in northern Hokkaido
to Miyako Islands, by various authors.
(Honma and Kitami, 1980; Honma andMizusawa, 1981; Amaoka, 1997; Uozu
Aqualium, 1997; Sakaguchi, 2004;Shiogaki et al., 2004; Yamada et al., 2004;
Kawano et al., 2011; Shinohara, 2011;
Senou et al., 2007). Although theirsystematics, taxonomy, and distributions

58

Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

Fitch, J. E. & R. J. Lavenberg. 1968. Deepwater Teleostean fishes of California.
University of California Press, Berkeley.
155 pp.
Hayashi, K. 2013. Lophotidae. Pp. 476,1864-1865. In: Nakabo T. (ed): Fishes ofJapan with pictorial keys to the species.
3rd edn. Tokai University Press, Hadano.
(in Japanese)
Honma, Y. & T. Kitami. 1980. A list of thefound in the vicinity of Sado Marine
Biological Station-VI. Annual Report ofthe Sado Marine Biological Station
Niigata University, 10: 27-47.
Honma, Y. & R. Mizusawa. 1981. “Akanamada”
drifted to Itoigawa Beach. Bulletin of theNiigata Prefectural Biological Society for
Education, 16. (in Japanese)
Hubbs, C.L. & K.F. Lagler. 1947. Fishes of theGreat Lakes region. Cranbrook Instituteof Science Bulletin, 26: i-xi + 1-186.
Goode, G.B. & T.H. Bean. 1895. Oceanic
ichthyology, a treatise on the deep-sea
and pelagic fishes of the world based
chiefly upon the collections made by thesteamers Blake, Albatross, and Fish
Hawk in the North-west Atlantic, with anatlas containing 417 figures. USNM
Special Bulletin No. 2.
Kawano, M., H. Doi & S. Hori. 2011. List ofthe fishes in the southwestern Japan Sea
off Yamaguchi Prefecture. Bulletin ofYamaguchi Prefectural Fisheries
Research Center, 11: 1-30. (in Japanese)
Olney, J.E. 1999. Lophotidae. Pp. 2281-2282.
In: Carpenter K. E., Niem V. H. (eds.):
FAO species identification guide forfishery purposes. The living marine
resources of the western central Pacific.
Vol. 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae toCarangidae). FAO, Rome.
Roberts, T.R. 2012. Systematics, biology, anddistribution of the species of the Oceanic
Oarfish genus Regalecus (Teleostei,Lampridiformes, Regalecidae). Mémoires
du Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle,Paris (N. S.) (Série A) Zoologie, 202:1-268.

are still not completely understood, ourspecimens collected from southwestern
Taiwan represent the first reliable records
of genus Lophotus from Taiwan.

Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to Mr.
C.-C. Chang and Miss Z.-L. Fang forcollecting the specimens. We appreciateMiss R.-R. Chen (NMMB-P) for
curatorial assistance. Dr. N.-L. Chaokindly improved the English in themanuscript. The present study wassupported in part by a JSPS Overseas
Research Fellowships (29-304) to the firstauthor.

References
Amaoka, K. 1997. Trachipteridae. p. 120. In:
Okamura O., Amaoka K. (eds.): Sea
Fishes of Japan. Yamakei, Tokyo. (inJapanese)
Craig, M., P. A. Hastings & D. J. Pondella.
2004. Notes on the systematics of theCrestfish genus Lophotus (Lampridiformes:Lophotidae), with a new record fromCalifornia. Bulletin of the Southern
California Academy of Science, 103(2):57-65.
Eschmeyer, W.N., R. Fricke, & R. van derLaan, (eds). 2017. Catalog of fishes:genera, species, references. Electronicversion.
http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/res
earch/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp
Figueiredo, J. L., N. A. Menezes, & A. P.
Santos, 2003. Lophotidae. Pp. 57-58.
In: Menezes, N. A., Buckup, P. A.,
Figueiredo, J. L. & Moura, R. L. (eds):
Catálogo das espécies de peixes marinhos
do Brasil. Museu de Zoologia deUniversidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.

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Sakaguchi, K. 2004. New record from
Hokkaido? Rare fish “Akanamada”
exclude a dark ink. Hokusuishi Dayori,
64: 31. (in Japanese)
Senou, H., Y. Kobayashi & N. Kobayashi.
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Group, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
Bulletin of the Kanagawa PrefecturalMuseum (Natural Science), 36: 47-74.
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WWW Web electronic publication.
http://fishdb.sinica.edu.tw
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Shiogaki, Y., Y. Ishido, Y. Nomura, T.
Sugimoto. 2004. Revised catalogue of thefishes collected from the water of Aomori
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(in Japanese)60Platax 14: 55-61, 2017

Table 1. Counts and measurements of Lophotus guntheri from southwestern Taiwan.
NMMB-P21031

NMMB-P25983

362.0

417.0

Dorsal-fin rays

263

243

Anal-fin rays

2020

Pectoral-fin rays

18

17

Pelvic-fin rays

55

Caudal-fin rays

1719

Vertebrae

152

148

Body depth

13.8

14.4

Body depth at anus

4.8

4.2

Pre-dorsal-fin length7.0

8.3

Pre-anal-fin length

91.1

92.2

Pre-pectoral-fin length

12.9

12.5

Pre-pelvic-fin length

15.3

14.7

Head length (HL)

13.7

13.3

Body depth

100.6

107.9

Body depth at anus

35.4

31.7

Snout length

22.0

22.5

Eye diamater

27.9

30.9

Upper jaw length

30.9

32.2

Interorbital length

20.0

19.4

Pectoral-fin length

41.8

51.6

Pelvic-fin length

6.1

7.6

Standard length (mm; SL)CountsMeasurements% of SL% of HL61