Volume 18, Issue 2 - 15 April 2012
New Scientific pubblication - started delivery on April 15, 2012

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James L. Van Tassell, Luke Tornabene, Patrick L. Colin: Review of the western Atlantic species of Bollmannia (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Gobiosomatini) with the description of a new allied genus and species, pp. 61-94

Abstract
Bollmannia Jordan is a poorly studied group of American seven-spined gobies with representatives in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic and tropical eastern Pa­cific oceans. We review the taxonomy of the western Atlantic species and provide redescriptions for the four valid species: B. boqueronensis, B. communis, B. eigenmanni and B. litura. Bollmannia jeannae is considered to be a junior synonym of B. boqueronensis. We also describe a new genus and species of deep-water goby and discuss its affinities to Bollmannia and other genera of the Micro­gobius group of the Gobiosomatini. An identification key is provided for all western Atlantic members of the Microgobius group. Results of this study highlight the need for a combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis to resolve the relationships among the genera of the Microgobius group.

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Antilligobius nikkiae in natural habitat, south-west Puerto Rico, approximately 90 m. Photos by P. Colin

Rüdiger Riesch, Ryan A. Martin, David Bierbach, Martin Plath, R. Brian Langerhans and Lenin Arias-Rodriguez: Natural history, life history, and diet of Priapella chamulae Schartl,  Meyer & Wilde 2006 (Teleostei: Poeciliidae), pp. 95-102

Abstract
We report on basic natural history, life history, and diet of Priapella chamulae (Poeciliidae) from Arroyo Tres, a small creek in Tabasco, southern México. The tertiary (adult) sex ratio was heavily female-skewed, female P. chamulae produced medium-sized offspring (~2.3 mg), one clutch at a time (i.e., showed no superfetation), and relied predominantly on yolk for embryo provisioning (Matrotrophy Index: 0.71). Furthermore, P. chamulae at Arroyo Tres had relatively short guts, were highly carnivorous, and preyed mainly on terrestrial arthropods (especially ants).

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Priapella chamulae SCHARTL, MEYER & WILDE.

Shima Bakhshalizadeh, Shahram Abdolmalaki, Ali Bani: Aspects of the life history of Acipenser stellatus (Acipenseriformes, Acipenseridae), the starry sturgeon, in Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea, pp. 103-112

Abstract
The age and growth of the starry sturgeon, Acipenser stellatus, obtained from Iranian coastal waters of the Caspian Sea, were studied through analysis of the pectoral fin ray section from 69 specimens, ranging in fork length (FL) from 83 to 173 cm. The specimens were obtained from commercial fisheries between October 2008 and June 2010. The interpretation of growth bands in the pectoral fin ray sections was carried out objectively using the direct reading of thin sections and by image analysis. The maximum age recorded for the specimens of starry sturgeon was 29 years. The estimates of asymptotic length (L∞) and the growth coefficient (K) of females were 153.69 cm and 0.08 per year respectively.  Males had an asymptotic length of 131.02 cm and a growth coefficient of 0.15 per year. The total mortality coefficient (Z) for females and for males was estimated to be 0.79 and 1.08 per year respectively. Annual mortality rates were calculated at 55 percent for females and 66 percent for males. This study revealed differences in the life history parameters of the starry sturgeon compared with previous study results which may be associated with increased fishing pressure and the degradation of environmental conditions.

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Starry sturgeon, Acipenser stellatus, live, not preserved. Photo by S. Bakhshalizadeh

Tyson R. Roberts: Scleropages inscriptus, a new fish species from the Tananthayi or Tenasserim River basin, Malay Peninsula of Myanmar (Osteoglossidae: Osteoglossiformes), pp. 113-118

Abstract
Scleropages inscriptus, a new species of bony-tongue fishes, is described from the Tenasserim or Tananthayi River basin on the Indian Ocean coast of peninsular Myanmar. It differs from the previously known Southeast Asian and Australian members of the genus in having the bones of the circumorbital and opercular series and all or most of the scales on the sides of the body densely covered with complex maze-like markings. In morphology and in meristic and morphometric characters it is closer to the other Asian species of Scleropages, S. formosus, than to S. leichhardti or S. jardinii, the two species currently recognized from the Australian Region; it is therefore referred to the subgenus Delsmania Fowler 1934 (type species S. formosus).

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Scleropages inscriptus, live non-type specimen, about 600 mm, Yangon aquarium trade, 2010