Protoblepharon mccoskeri

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Protoblepharon mccoskeri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Trachichthyiformes
Family: Anomalopidae
Genus: Protoblepharon
Species:
P. mccoskeri
Binomial name
Protoblepharon mccoskeri

Protoblepharon mccoskeri, the Taiwanese flashlight fish, is a flashlight fish species found in the Northwest Pacific off of Taiwan's east coast. It can be found as deep as 300m. [1] It was first described in 2012 from a single specimen caught near Taiwan. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The first scientific description of the Taiwanese flashlight fish was authored in 2012 by ichthyologists Hsuan-Ching Ho and G. David Johnson. Its generic name derives from Greek protos, meaning "the first," and blepharon, meaning "eyelid." The species is named mccoskeri after Dr. John E. McCosker, a senior scientist at the California Academy of Sciences. [2]

Description

The Taiwanese flashlight fish has a thick body and relatively small, bulging eyes. Its head has very few scales. It differs from P. rosenblatti, its only congener in that it has a deeper body, shorter snout, smaller light organ, and larger cup under the eye. There are about 260 rows of scales along its body. It is a reddish black color [2] and can reach lengths of up to 30.5 cm. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2016). "Protoblepharon mccoskeri" in FishBase . December 2016 version.
  2. 1 2 3 Ho, Hsuan-Ching; G.D. Johnson (2012). "Protoblepharon mccoskeri, a new flashlight fish from eastern Taiwan (Teleostei: Anomalopidae)". Zootaxa. 3479 (3479): 77–87. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3479.1.5 . hdl:10088/19165.