Meadia roseni

discussion

Remarks. A species commonly collected from deep waters by bottom trawl off southwestern Taiwan.

Annotated checklist of eels (orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes) from Taiwan

description

Description (data for the large specimen given first with data for smaller specimen in parentheses). General appearance shown in Figures 1 and 2. Body robust, body depth at gill opening and at anus subequal, 13.4 (17.9) and 13.1 (17.5) in TL, respectively; body oval in cross section anteriorly, body width at gill opening 18.1 (27.3) in TL; anus much closer to snout tip than to tip of tail, preanal length 4.2 (4.6) in TL; head relatively large, its length 6.3 (7.0) in TL; postorbital distance about 1.5 times in head length; dorsal profile of snout straight, dorsal profile of head convex behind eye; trunk very short, length 11.3 (13.4) in TL; tail much longer than preanal length, 1.3 (1.4) in TL; origin of dorsal fin above middle of pectoral fin, predorsal length 5.6 (6.0) in TL; anal fin begins a short distance behind anus; dorsal fin low, subequal to pupil diameter, anal fin distinctly higher than dorsal fin, its height about 3 times of body depth; pectoral-fin rays 16; pectoral fins short, their length 3.9 (3.7) in HL, pectoral-fin base relatively broad, subequal to width of gill opening; caudal fin with truncate posterior margin. Mouth relatively large, rictus about 1.5 (1.0) eye

Unexpected record of Meadia roseni Mok, Lee & Chan, 1991 (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae) from the Western Indian Ocean, with comments on its ontogenetic changes

description

The holotype measured 745.0 mm TL, and the specimen from Vietnam, at 845 mm TL, represents the largest known specimen of the species. Accordingly, the larger Tanzanian specimen (828.0 mm TL) is the second-largest known specimen. In general, this specimen closely matches the description of the holotype of M. roseni from Taiwan but differs slightly in some proportions. These differences may reflect geographical variation and / or its slightly larger size, for example a somewhat deeper body (13.4 in TL vs. 15 in TL) (Table 2).

Unexpected record of Meadia roseni Mok, Lee & Chan, 1991 (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae) from the Western Indian Ocean, with comments on its ontogenetic changes

diagnosis

Distinctive characters. Preanal distance 4.2 – 4.6 in TL; head large, 6.3 – 7.4 in TL; intermaxillary and vomerine teeth blunt-tipped; total number of vertebrae 197 – 204.

Unexpected record of Meadia roseni Mok, Lee & Chan, 1991 (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae) from the Western Indian Ocean, with comments on its ontogenetic changes