CALLIONYMUS RIVATONI - (FRICKE, 1993)
Picture courtesy of: Pauline Fey
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Syngnathiformes (Order) > Callionymoidei (Suborder) > Callionymidae (Family) > Callionymus (Genus)
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Syngnathiformes (Order) > Callionymoidei (Suborder) > Callionymidae (Family) > Callionymus (Genus)
Dragonnet de Rivaton, Dragonnet à longue queue de Nouvelle-Calédonie, New Caledonian longtail dragonet,
Synonyme
Callionymus gardineri rivatoni (Fricke, 1993)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 4; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-9; Anal spine: 1; Anal soft rays: 7; Pectoral fin rays (total): 18-20; Pelvic fin ray: I, 5; Caudal fin ray (total): 12. Body elongate and drepressed. Head depressed: 3.3-3.9 (usually: 3.9) in SL; Eye: 2.4-2.6 (usually: 2.5) in head. Preorbital length: 2.8-4.0 (usually: 3.0) in head. Interorbital distance: 40-41 (usually: 59) in head; Maxillary length: 3.0-3.3 in head; Preopercular spine length: 3.2-3.6 (usually: 3.3) in head. Preopercular spine with a strong main tip, a strong antrorse spine at its base, a smooth ventral margin, and 4-6 small antrorse serrae along its dorsal margin; Preopercular spine formula: 1, 4-6, 1 (usually: 1, 6, 1). Body depth: 9.1-11.9 (usually: 11.0) in SL. Body width: 4.8-5.8 (usually: 5.6) in SL. Urogenital papilla in the male: 16 (12) in head, in the female not visible; Caudal peduncle length: 6.2 (6.4-7.2) in SL. Caudal peduncle depth: 22.6-25.8 (usually: 25.3). Max. length: 54.8 mm (male), 37.4 mm (female) SL. Depth range: 12 - 110 m.
Color
In alcohol. Head and body light brown above, whitish below. Eye dark blue, with dorsal dark gray blotches. Throat in the male with a vague brown spot, but without surrounding lines; In the female plain white. Suborbital area with a group of dark brown blotches. Back and upper sides of body speckled with white and dark brown. Sides of body with a row of dark brown blotches below the lateral line. First dorsal fin in the male dark gray, with irregular white spots and a black blotch distally on second membrane; In the female whitish, with oblique dark brown lines and a black blotch distally on third spine. Second dorsal fin transluscent, each membrane with 1-4 horizontal brown streaks. Distal half of anal fin in the male black; Anal fin in the female with a narrow distal black margin. Caudal fin spotted with dark brown. Pectoral fin with vertical lines of small dark brown sports. Lower margin of caudal fin black; Fin rays spotted with dark brown, upper one-fourth of the fin with horizontal dark lines.
Etymology
Callionymus: from Greek, kallos = good, beautiful + from Greek suffix, -onym = name, word, with a better name. Callionymus (Linnaeus, 1758) is also the latinization of kallionymos, Aristotle’s name for stargazers (Uranoscopidae), which Linnaeus apparently confused with dragonets.
rivatoni: in honor of Jacques Rivaton (1921-2009), ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), New Caledonia, who sent specimens of this species and other callionymid and tripterygiid fishes to Fricke for examination.
Original description: Callionymus gardineri rivatoni Fricke, 1993 - Type locality: Baie de Saint Vincent, New Caledonia, 22°05'S, 166°10'E, depth 15 meters.
Synonyme
Callionymus gardineri rivatoni (Fricke, 1993)
------------------------
Description
Dorsal spines (total): 4; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-9; Anal spine: 1; Anal soft rays: 7; Pectoral fin rays (total): 18-20; Pelvic fin ray: I, 5; Caudal fin ray (total): 12. Body elongate and drepressed. Head depressed: 3.3-3.9 (usually: 3.9) in SL; Eye: 2.4-2.6 (usually: 2.5) in head. Preorbital length: 2.8-4.0 (usually: 3.0) in head. Interorbital distance: 40-41 (usually: 59) in head; Maxillary length: 3.0-3.3 in head; Preopercular spine length: 3.2-3.6 (usually: 3.3) in head. Preopercular spine with a strong main tip, a strong antrorse spine at its base, a smooth ventral margin, and 4-6 small antrorse serrae along its dorsal margin; Preopercular spine formula: 1, 4-6, 1 (usually: 1, 6, 1). Body depth: 9.1-11.9 (usually: 11.0) in SL. Body width: 4.8-5.8 (usually: 5.6) in SL. Urogenital papilla in the male: 16 (12) in head, in the female not visible; Caudal peduncle length: 6.2 (6.4-7.2) in SL. Caudal peduncle depth: 22.6-25.8 (usually: 25.3). Max. length: 54.8 mm (male), 37.4 mm (female) SL. Depth range: 12 - 110 m.
Color
In alcohol. Head and body light brown above, whitish below. Eye dark blue, with dorsal dark gray blotches. Throat in the male with a vague brown spot, but without surrounding lines; In the female plain white. Suborbital area with a group of dark brown blotches. Back and upper sides of body speckled with white and dark brown. Sides of body with a row of dark brown blotches below the lateral line. First dorsal fin in the male dark gray, with irregular white spots and a black blotch distally on second membrane; In the female whitish, with oblique dark brown lines and a black blotch distally on third spine. Second dorsal fin transluscent, each membrane with 1-4 horizontal brown streaks. Distal half of anal fin in the male black; Anal fin in the female with a narrow distal black margin. Caudal fin spotted with dark brown. Pectoral fin with vertical lines of small dark brown sports. Lower margin of caudal fin black; Fin rays spotted with dark brown, upper one-fourth of the fin with horizontal dark lines.
Etymology
Callionymus: from Greek, kallos = good, beautiful + from Greek suffix, -onym = name, word, with a better name. Callionymus (Linnaeus, 1758) is also the latinization of kallionymos, Aristotle’s name for stargazers (Uranoscopidae), which Linnaeus apparently confused with dragonets.
rivatoni: in honor of Jacques Rivaton (1921-2009), ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), New Caledonia, who sent specimens of this species and other callionymid and tripterygiid fishes to Fricke for examination.
Original description: Callionymus gardineri rivatoni Fricke, 1993 - Type locality: Baie de Saint Vincent, New Caledonia, 22°05'S, 166°10'E, depth 15 meters.
Distribution
Western Pacific: New Caledonia (Chesterfield Islands, Récifs d'Entrecasteaux, Grande Terre, Ile des Pins).
Biology
Found in sandy bottom. Males have a slightly longer caudal fin than females, a much longer and filaentous first spine of the first dorsal fin, a longer urogenital papilla (not visible in females), and a different color pattern of the first dorsal fin, the anal fin and the throat.
Similar species
Callionymus enneactis (Bleeker, 1879) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here).
Callionymus gardineri (Regan, 1908) - Reported from Red Sea; Western Indian Ocean: Gulf of Aden, East Africa and Natal (South Africa) to Comoro Islands, Seychelles, Saint Brandon's Shoals and Maldives. It differs from that subspecies in a shorter preopercular spine, the color pattern of the first dorsal fin, the anal fin, a shorter preorbital length and a smaller body depth.
Callionymus pleurostictus (Fricke, 1982) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here).
Last update: 8, September 2024
Biology
Found in sandy bottom. Males have a slightly longer caudal fin than females, a much longer and filaentous first spine of the first dorsal fin, a longer urogenital papilla (not visible in females), and a different color pattern of the first dorsal fin, the anal fin and the throat.
Similar species
Callionymus enneactis (Bleeker, 1879) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here).
Callionymus gardineri (Regan, 1908) - Reported from Red Sea; Western Indian Ocean: Gulf of Aden, East Africa and Natal (South Africa) to Comoro Islands, Seychelles, Saint Brandon's Shoals and Maldives. It differs from that subspecies in a shorter preopercular spine, the color pattern of the first dorsal fin, the anal fin, a shorter preorbital length and a smaller body depth.
Callionymus pleurostictus (Fricke, 1982) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here).
Last update: 8, September 2024