Tempestichthys bettyae, a new genus and species of ocean sleeper (Gobiiformes, Thalasseleotrididae) from the central Coral Sea

Abstract

The Thalasseleotrididae is a small family of exclusively marine gobioids. They form a sister taxon to the Gobiidae and Oxudercidae and are distinguished from most species in these families by having six branchiostegal rays and a membrane linking the hyoid arch to the first ceratobranchial. Here we use micro-CT informed morphological data and molecular phylogenetics to describe a new genus and species of thalasseleotridid discovered on a tropical oceanic coral reef in the central Coral Sea. Tempestichthys bettyae gen. et sp. nov. is the first tropical thalasseleotridid and differs from other members of the Thalasseleotrididae by having a T-shaped palatine and a distinctive shape and colouration. The three previously described thalasseleotridid species are endemic to temperate coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand and are all translucent brown with dorsoventrally compressed heads. However, Tempestichthys bettyae is laterally compressed with a pointed snout and is translucent white with opaque white and crimson red markings and a largely crimson iris. We discuss the unique characters of this new genus, including its distribution, form, colouration and diminutive size, and highlight the potential of there being undescribed diversity in the Thalasseleotrididae.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3F584DD6-0B33-4E69-98A7-22D68EE1A1B8

Key words:

• Australia
• coral reef
• cryptic
• cryptobenthic fishes
• Gobiidae
• Gobioidei
• morphology
• osteology
• phylogeny
• tropical

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the relevant staff at Parks Australia and Andrew Hoey, Morgan Pratchett, Andrew Baird, Hugo Harrison, Tane Sinclair-Taylor, Rob and Anita Benn, and the crew of the Iron Joy for field assistance; Yi-Kai Tea, Tony Gill, Adam Summers, Stephen Wroe, Richard Flavel, Kendall Clements, and Alison Ballance for taxonomic and imaging assistance; Amanda Hay, Joseph DiBattista, Kerryn Parkinson, Sally Reader, and Katherine Maslenikov for assistance with museum specimens.

General disclaimer

The findings and views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Parks Australia, the Director of National Parks, or the Australian Government.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2090633.

Associate Editor: Dr Kevin Conway

Additional information

Funding

The fieldwork for this project was jointly funded by the Director of National Parks, Australia and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, JCU (CE140100020). Micro-CT scanning at the Karel F. Liem Bioimaging Center was supported by the NSF (oVert, Award Number 1701665, LT). Collaborative research was funded by a Fulbright Postdoctoral Future Fellowship funded by the Kinghorn Foundation and a University of New England Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (CHRG). This research was conducted in the Coral Sea Marine Park under Permit No. AU-COM2018-403.