A new species of the genus Osteodiscus (Cottoidei: Liparidae) from the Kuril Basin (Sea of Okhotsk, western North Pacific)

N.V. Chernova and R. Thiel

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 2025, 329(1): 3–12 · https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2025.329.1.3

Abstract

A new species of liparid fish from the genus Osteodiscus Stein, 1978 is described. The genus is primarily distinguished from Careproctus Krøyer, 1862 in the reduction of soft tissues of the pelvic disk. Three specimens of Osteodiscus lindbergi sp. nov. were caught during the international expedition SokhoBio (“Sea of Okhotsk Biodiversity Studies”, 2015) in the Kuril Basin of the Sea of Okhotsk at an abyssal depth of 3306–3348 m. The new species differs from four other congeners in the number of vertebrae (53) and rays in the dorsal (51) and anal (42) fins, a notched pectoral fin with a moderately elongated lower lobe (that is 67–76% of the length of upper pectoral-lobe), a horizontal mouth, and lack of prickles on the skin. Color of head and body brown, peritoneum black. This abyssobenthal species is presumably endemic to the deep-sea Kuril Basin.

Key words

Kuril Basin, Liparidae, Osteodiscus, Sea of Okhotsk

Submitted October 26, 2024 · Accepted February 2, 2025 · Published March 3, 2025

References

Andriashev A.P. 2003. Liparid fishes (Liparidae, Scorpaeniformes) of the Southern Ocean and adjacent waters. Biological Results of Russian Antarcic. Expedition IX. Explorations of the Fauna of the Seas, 53(61): 1–475. [In Russian, English diagnoses]. https://www.zin.ru/publications/explorations/Vol_53(61)_Andriashev_2003.pdf

Burke C.V. 1930. Revision of the fishes of the family Liparidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 150: 1–204. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.150.1

Chernova N., Thiel R. and Eidus I. 2020. Four new species of Careproctus (Cottoidei: Liparidae) from the deep-water vicinity of the southern Kurile Islands (Western North Pacific). Zootaxa, 4821: 071–087. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4821.1.3

Lindberg G.U. and Fedorov V.V. 1993. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and the adjacent parts of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Yellow Sea. Part 6. Teleostomi. Osteichthyes. Actinopterygii. XXXI. Pleuronectiformes (Fam. CXCV. Psettodidae – Fam. CCI. Cynoglossidae). Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 166. Nauka, Sankt Petersburg, 272 p. [In Russian].

Lindberg G.U., Fedorov V.V. and Krasyukova Z.V. 1997. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and the adjacent parts of the Sea of Okhotsk and Yellow Sea. Part 7. Teleostomi. Actinopterygii. Osteichthyes. XXXII. Dactylopteriformes – XXXVII. Pegasiformes. (CCII. Fam. Dactylopteridae – CCXIX. Fam. Pegasidae). Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 168. Gidrometeoizdat, Sankt-Peterburg, 350 p. [In Russian].

Lindberg G.U. and Krasyukova Z.V. 1969. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and of adjacent areas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Yellow Seas. Part 3. Teleostomi. XXIX. Perciformes. 1. Percoidei. Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 99. Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenye, Leningrad, 479 p. [In Russian].

Lindberg G.U. and Krasyukova Z.V. 1975. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and adjacent areas of the Okhotsk and Yellow Sea. Part 4. Teleostomi. XXIX. Perciformes. 2. Blennioidei – 13. Gobioidei. (CXLV. Fam. Anarhichadidae – CLXXV. Fam. Periophthalmidae). Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 108. Izdatelstvo Nauka, Leningradskoe Otdelenie, Leningrad, 463 p. [In Russian. English translation: Oxonian Press Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1989].

Lindberg G.U. and Krasyukova Z.V. 1987. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and adjacent areas of the Okhotsk and Yellow Sea. Part 5. Teleostomi, Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii. XXX. Scorpaeniformes (176. Fam. Scorpaenidae – 194. Fam. Liparididae). Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 150. Izdatelstvo Nauka, Leningradskoe Otdelenie, Leningrad, 526 p. [In Russian].

Lindberg G.U. and Legeza M.I. 1959. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and the adjacent areas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Yellow Seas. Part 1. Amphioxi, Petromyzones, Myxini, Elasmobranchii, Holocephali. Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 68. Academia nauk SSSR, Moskva, Leningrad, 208 p. [In Russian. English translation: 1967, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem].

Lindberg G.U. and Legeza M.I. 1965. Fishes of the Sea of Japan and the adjacent areas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Yellow Seas. Part 2. Teleostomi. XII. Acipenseriformes – XXVIII. Polynemiformes. Keys to the Fauna of the USSR, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy, No. 84. Nauka: Moskva, Leningrad, 391 p. [In Russian. English translation: 1969, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem].

Malyutina M.V., Chernysheva A.V. and Brandt A. 2018. Introduction to the SokhoBio (Sea of Okhotsk Biodiversity Studies) expedition 2015. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 154: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.08.012

Murasaki K., Kai Y., Endo H. and Fukui A. 2021a. Osteodiscus abyssicola, a new snailfish (Cottoidei: Liparidae) collected off the Pacific coast of northern Japan. Zootaxa, 5032(1): 136–142. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5032.1.8

Murasaki K., Kai Y., Endo H. and Fukui A. 2021b. First Japanese record of the snailfish Osteodiscus andriashevi (Liparidae), collected off Iwate, Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 68(2): 109–115. https://doi.org/10.11369/jji.20-044

Pitruk D.L. and Fedorov V.V. 1990. A new species of the genus Osteodiscus Stein (Liparididae) from the Sea of Okhotsk. Journal of Ichthyology, 30(8): 112–118.

Sheiko B.A. and Fedorov V.V. 2000. Part 1. Class Cephalaspidmorha, Class Chondrichthyes, Class Holocephali, Class Osteichthyes. In: R.S. Moissev (Ed.). Catalog of the Vertebrates of Kamchatka and Adjacent Waters. Kamchatskiy Petchatniy Dvor, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: 7–69. [In Russian].

Stein D.L. 1978. A review of the deepwater Liparidae (Pisces) from the coast of Oregon and adjacent waters. Occasional Papers California Academy of Sciences, 127: 1–55.

Stein D.L. 2012. A review of the snailfishes (Liparidae, Scorpaeniformes) of New Zealand, including descriptions of a new genus and sixteen new species. Zootaxa, 3588: 1–54. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3588.1.1