SPRINGERICHTHYS KULBICKII - (FRICKE & RANDALL, 1994)
Picture courtesy of: Alain Daoulas
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Blenniiformes (Order) > Blennioidei (Suborder) > Tripterygiidae (Family) > Tripterygiinae (Subfamily) > Springerichthys (Genus)
Kulbicki's threefin, Kulbicki's triplefin, 库氏细翼鳚,
Synonyme
Gracilopterygion kulbickii (Fricke & Randall, 1994)
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Description
First dorsal spines (total): 3; Second dorsal spines (total): 11-15 (usually: 12); Dorsal soft rays (total): 6-10 (usually: 7); Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 18-21 (usually: 21); Pectoral rays: 16-18; Scales rows: 32-40 + 1 (usually: 35-39 + 1); Transverse scale rows: 3 + 1 + 4; Lateral line scales: 21-22 + 17-19. Occipital lateral line branches simple. Occipital branch I-shaped, simple. Scales reaching anteriorly to predorsal lateral line branch, and to mid of belly. Lateral line consisting of an anterior section of 20-22 tubular pored sclaes, reaching to behind the end of the second dorsal fin; Continuing two rows lower with 16-21 incised scales. Dorsal profile steep with very short snout; Head and preopercular area naked; Slender supraorbital tentacle; First dorsal fin a third of the height of second dorsal fin; Pectoral fin reaching about to 7th anal fin rays. Max. length: 3.5 cm SL. Depth range: 2 - 15 m.
Color
Body gray with five indistinct, broad, paired brown bars; Uneven bright orange spots on head and anterior body, small posteriorly, and mostly orange on posterior margins of scales; Caudal-fin with black base, gray center with a midlateral orange band, a thin white margin, black submarginal line, and a wide bright red-orange arc. Males differ from females in the anterior dark half of the body and the dark head, and in the whitish third dorsal fin.
Etymology
Springerichthys: in honor of ichthyologist Victor Gruschka Springer (1928), Senior Scientist emeritus, Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is a specialist in the anatomy, classification, and distribution of fishes, with a special interest in tropical marine shorefishes.
kulbickii: in honor of reef-fish ecologist Michel L. Kulbicki, ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), Nouméa, who collected type and many other New Caledonian fishes.
Original description: Gracilopterygion kulbickii Fricke & Randall, 1994 - Type locality: Outside barrier reef off Tenia Island, 22°01'06"S, 165°55'30"E, New Caledonia, depth 2-4 meters.
Distribution
Southwestern Pacific: Queensland (Australia), Coral Sea, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Niue and American Samoa.
Biology
Adults are found outside barrier reefs. Eggs are hemispherical and covered with numerous sticky threads that anchor them in the algae on the nesting sites. Larvae are planktonic which occur primarily in shallow, nearshore waters. The anal fin ray numbers slightly decrease towards the east between New Caledonia and American Samoa. Otherwise, no significant georgraphical variation in counts, measurements or coloration was found for the species.
Similar species
Springerichthys bapturus (Jordan & Snyder, 1902) - Reported from Northwestern Pacific: Taiwan north to Sea of Japan (Korea, Japan, Russia) and Sea of Okhotsk.
Description
First dorsal spines (total): 3; Second dorsal spines (total): 11-15 (usually: 12); Dorsal soft rays (total): 6-10 (usually: 7); Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 18-21 (usually: 21); Pectoral rays: 16-18; Scales rows: 32-40 + 1 (usually: 35-39 + 1); Transverse scale rows: 3 + 1 + 4; Lateral line scales: 21-22 + 17-19. Occipital lateral line branches simple. Occipital branch I-shaped, simple. Scales reaching anteriorly to predorsal lateral line branch, and to mid of belly. Lateral line consisting of an anterior section of 20-22 tubular pored sclaes, reaching to behind the end of the second dorsal fin; Continuing two rows lower with 16-21 incised scales. Dorsal profile steep with very short snout; Head and preopercular area naked; Slender supraorbital tentacle; First dorsal fin a third of the height of second dorsal fin; Pectoral fin reaching about to 7th anal fin rays. Max. length: 3.5 cm SL. Depth range: 2 - 15 m.
Color
Body gray with five indistinct, broad, paired brown bars; Uneven bright orange spots on head and anterior body, small posteriorly, and mostly orange on posterior margins of scales; Caudal-fin with black base, gray center with a midlateral orange band, a thin white margin, black submarginal line, and a wide bright red-orange arc. Males differ from females in the anterior dark half of the body and the dark head, and in the whitish third dorsal fin.
Etymology
Springerichthys: in honor of ichthyologist Victor Gruschka Springer (1928), Senior Scientist emeritus, Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is a specialist in the anatomy, classification, and distribution of fishes, with a special interest in tropical marine shorefishes.
kulbickii: in honor of reef-fish ecologist Michel L. Kulbicki, ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), Nouméa, who collected type and many other New Caledonian fishes.
Original description: Gracilopterygion kulbickii Fricke & Randall, 1994 - Type locality: Outside barrier reef off Tenia Island, 22°01'06"S, 165°55'30"E, New Caledonia, depth 2-4 meters.
Distribution
Southwestern Pacific: Queensland (Australia), Coral Sea, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Niue and American Samoa.
Biology
Adults are found outside barrier reefs. Eggs are hemispherical and covered with numerous sticky threads that anchor them in the algae on the nesting sites. Larvae are planktonic which occur primarily in shallow, nearshore waters. The anal fin ray numbers slightly decrease towards the east between New Caledonia and American Samoa. Otherwise, no significant georgraphical variation in counts, measurements or coloration was found for the species.
Similar species
Springerichthys bapturus (Jordan & Snyder, 1902) - Reported from Northwestern Pacific: Taiwan north to Sea of Japan (Korea, Japan, Russia) and Sea of Okhotsk.
Last update: 11, June 2022