Flexor incus a new genus and species of clingfish from Rangitāhua Kermadec Islands

At long last the Kermadec clingfish (sorry no photographs of it yet) has a name. Formerly reported as Aspasmagaster sp., the tiny Flexor incus is not only a new species but a new genus of clingfish. The description published yesterday in ZooKeys by Conway et al. tentatively places Flexor in the subfamily Diplocrepinae (e.g. Diplocrepis puniceus, Gastrocyathus gracilis and Gastroscyphus hectoris from mainland New Zealand) but notes that it shares a number of characters with some members of the Aspasminae and Diademichthyinae.

Maximum reported size is 27.2 mm. Colouration is uniformly pinkish purple to grey, with diffuse, pale markings ranging from bars to irregular blotches, and diffuse pale areas around nostrils and tip of snout. The iris of the eye is red, and the fins transparent.

Most known specimens come from rock pools but it has been collected to 28 m depth.

The paper, which contains some fantastic CT scans of the skeleton, can be accessed at: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/28539/

Posted on September 26, 2018 03:56 AM by clinton