Two New Microbrotula (Teleostei: Ophidiiformes: Bythitidae) from the Southwestern Pacific Ocean, with a Revised Key to the Species

Abstract

Two new species of livebearing brotula of the genus Microbrotula Gosline are described from the tropical southwestern Pacific. Microbrotula greenfieldi sp. nov., from Fiji, is distinguished from its congeners by lacking head pores, its retrograde pelvic fins, relatively high pectoral fin ray count, low vertebral count, short pectoral fin, and dorsal fin origin above the eighth vertebra. Microbrotula punicea sp. nov., from the Kermadec Islands, is distinguished from its congeners by the presence of four preoperculomandibular pores, its high vertebral and pectoral fin ray counts, advanced pelvic fins, long pectoral fin, and dorsal fin origin above the ninth vertebra.