Snailfishes (Pisces: Liparidae) of Australia, including descriptions of thirty new species

Abstract

Examination of all available liparid specimens collected in Australian waters revealed more than 30 new species in three genera: Careproctus Kroyer, Psednos Barnard, and Paraliparis Collett. This is the first published description of liparids from Australia. The new species include Careproctus paxtoni n.sp., Psednos balushkini n.sp., Ps. nataliae n.sp., Ps. whitleyi n.sp., Paraliparis anthracinus n.sp., P. ater n.sp., P. atrolabiatus n.sp., P. auriculatus n.sp., P. australiensis n.sp., P. avellaneus n.sp., P. badius n.sp., P. brunneocaudatus n.sp., P. brunneus n.sp., P. coracinus n.sp., P. costatus n.sp., P. csiroi n.sp., P. delphis n.sp., P. dewitti n.sp., P. eastmani n.sp., P. gomoni n.sp., P. hobarti n.sp., P. impariporus n.sp., P. infeliciter n.sp., P. labiatus n.sp., P. lasti n.sp., P. obtusirostris n.sp., P. piceus n.sp., P. plagiostomus n.sp., P. retrodorsalis n.sp., P. tasmaniensis n.sp., and four more unnamed taxa. All are endemic to Australia. We discuss and describe new characters, describe the new species and provide keys for their identification. The described Paraliparis species are morphologically very similar to one another, and form a group that is clearly distinct from the Antarctic species of the genus, suggesting that the two groups are not closely related and that neither is derived from the other. Two of the unnamed taxa constitute the second record of liparids from the Indian Ocean.