Description

SINGLE PAPER

Volume 2, Issue 4 – December 1997

W. Ivantsoff, Aarn, Margaret A. Shepherd and G. R. Allen: Pseudomugil reticulatus (Pisces: Pseudomugilidae) a review of the species originally described from a single specimen, from Vogelkop Peninsula, Irian Jaya with further evaluation of the systematics of Atherinoidea, pp. 53-64

Abstract

Pseudomugil reticulatus, hitherto only known from a single specimen from Vogelkop Peninsula, Irian Jaya is redescribed on the basis of selected specimens collecte din the environs of Timika and Tembagapura, (approx. 4° 23’S 136°53’E) Irian Jaya. Examination of a large number of specimens allows for a much more accurate description of meristics, morphometrics, coloration, and sexual dimorphism. Osteological study of P. reticulatus provides a clear cut diagnosis of the species. Although the present study does not contradict the hypothesized systematic position of Pseudomugilidae, it suggests that Telmatherinidae, Pseudomugilidae and Melanotaeniiae may form a transformation series. The latest definition of the family Pseudomugilidae and the genus Pseudomugil are given.