First record of Evoxymetopon taeniatus (Actinopterygii:  Perciformes: Trichiuridae) from the Philippines

Abstract

The channel scabbardfish, Evoxymetopon taeniatus Gill, 1863 has not been known from the Philippine waters. Our presently reported finding of two specimens (114.5 and 133.1 cm SL)  of this species from the Philippines extends the range of this species to the central Indo-Pacific. The specimens captured were both male, one with developing gonads, and the other one—mature. We examined and described the fish found, providing morphometric and meristic analyses. The species can be distinguished from its congeners by having a convex upper head profile, steep sagittal crest slope, 82 dorsal fin rays with a defined notched at the tenth ray, a black dorsal fin membrane before the notch, and 15 externally visible anal fin rays that are bound with a membrane. The analyses included also relations with size of the four known Evoxymetopon species. Only one significant relation was revealed by the regression analyses—between SL and % pre-anal length. We provided also an updated identification key for the genus.

Keywords

• new record
• range extension
• morphological descrip