Upeneus stenopsis
| Upeneus stenopsis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Syngnathiformes |
| Family: | Mullidae |
| Genus: | Upeneus |
| Species: | U. stenopsis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Upeneus stenopsis Uiblein & McGrouther, 2012
| |
Upeneus stenopsis, the narrowtail goatfish, is a deep-water goatfish of the genus Upeneus. It was first described by Uiblein & McGrouther in 2012.[1] It is the first known recorded deep-water species of Upeneus to be in found in the Pacific Ocean.[2]
Etymology
The species name stenopsis is a portmanteau of two ancient Greek words: stenós (στενός; "tight") and ópsĭs (ὄψις; "appearance"), referring to this species' distinctively narrow (both in depth and width) caudal peduncle from other Upeneus species.[3]
Distribution and habitat
Upeneus stenopsis's known habitat is the north and northeastern coasts of Australia and Quezon, Philippines, presiding in depths between 127 and 275 meters.[2]
Description
The longest recorded length of a specimen of U. stenopsis is 13.1 cm. In its fresh state, it has a silver grey appearance, with a red tint on the top, and white on the belly. It has black frontal fin tips, and has about 7 to 9 oblique rays on the tail fin; 5 rays on the upper lobe, 4 rays on the lower lobe, with hyaline-colored interspaces between each stripe.[2]
A single juvenile U. stepnosis specimen found in Quezon was noted to overlap many of the same characteristics as 4 other adult specimens.[2]
Characterization
Upeneus stenopsis was added into a vittatus (banded-fish) group consisting of Upeneus davidaromi, Upeneus mascareinsis, Upeneus subvittatus, Upeneus vittatus and Upeneus vanuatu, characterized by their shared features, including: number of gill rakers on lower limb, caudal-peduncle depth, interorbital length, and interdorsal distance.[4]
Upeneus stenopsis is most closely related to the species Upeneus davidaromi, Upeneus mascareinsis, and Upeneus subvittatus, as they share no lateral body stripes in life, a shallow caudal peduncle, and a long head with long jaws and large eyes. [2]
References
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Upeneus stenopsis". FishBase.
- ^ a b c d e Uiblein, Franz; McGrouther, Mark A. (2012). "A new deep-water goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from northern Australia and the Philippines, with a taxonomic account of U. subvittatus and remarks on U. mascareinsis" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3550: 61–70. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3550.1.4. ISSN 1175-5326.
- ^ Scharpf, Christopher (2025). "Order Syngnathiformes". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ^ Uiblein, Franz; Causse, Romain (2013). "A new deep-water goatfish of the genus Upeneus (Mullidae) from Vanuatu, South Pacific" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3666: 337–344. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3666.3.4. ISSN 1175-5326. PMID 26217854.