Register      Login
Pacific Conservation Biology Pacific Conservation Biology Society
A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Had a gut full, of the scaled stargazer Pleuroscopus pseudodorsalis Barnard 1927

Peter G. Coulson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0165-0788
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Government of Western Australia, PO Box 20, North Beach, WA 6920, Australia.

B Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: Peter.Coulson@dpird.wa.gov.au

Pacific Conservation Biology - https://doi.org/10.1071/PC20085
Submitted: 1 November 2020  Accepted: 17 December 2020   Published online: 12 January 2021

Abstract

The head of a large scaled stargazer Pleuroscopus pseudodorsalis Barnard 1927 was found in the stomach of a bass groper Polyprion americanus caught in deep waters off the south-east coast of Western Australia. The finding of this specimen increases our knowledge of the distribution of P. pseudodorsalis and the estimated age of 22 years of this specimen, based on counts of growth (opaque) zones in the section otoliths, is the first such information for this species.

Keywords: bass groper, continental shelf, deep sea, diet, longevity, ocean, otoliths, Pleuroscopus pseudodorsalis, Polyprion americanus, scaled stargazer, Uranoscopidae.


References

Anon. (1979). ‘Summary of cruises no. 047.’ (CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography: Cronulla, NSW, Australia)

Barnard, K. H. (1927). Diagnoses of new genera and species of South African marine fishes. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 20, 66–79.
Diagnoses of new genera and species of South African marine fishes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Bray, D. J., and Hoese, D. F., (2006). Uranoscopdiae. In ‘Zoological catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35, Part 3’. (Eds P. L. Beesley, and Wells.) pp. 1509–1515. (Australian Biological Resources Study and CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Vic.)

Coulson, P. G., and Newman, S. J. (2020). Age estimation and otolith characteristics of an extremely old deepsea black cardinalfish (Epigonus telescopus) captured off the southern coast of Western Australia. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 36, 349–351.
Age estimation and otolith characteristics of an extremely old deepsea black cardinalfish (Epigonus telescopus) captured off the southern coast of Western Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Demirhan, S. A., Can, M. F., and Seyhan, K. (2007). Age and growth of stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber L., 1758) in the southeastern Black Sea. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 23, 692–694.
Age and growth of stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber L., 1758) in the southeastern Black Sea.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kim, S., and Yoo, J. M. (2000). Larval morphology of Gnathagnus elongatus (Uranoscopidae). Korean Journal of Ichthyology 12, 124–128.

Kishimoto, H., Last, P. R., Fujii, E., and Gomon, M. F. (1988). Revision of a deep-sea stargazer genus Pleuroscopus. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 35, 150–158.

Last, P. R., Scott, E. O. G., and Talbot, F. A. (1983). ‘Fishes of Tasmania.’ (Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority: Hobart, Tas.)

Lychakov, D. V., Rebane, Y. T., Lombarte, A., Demestre, M., and Fuiman, L. A. (2008). Saccular otolith mass asymmetry in adult flatfishes. Journal of Fish Biology 72, 2579–2594.
Saccular otolith mass asymmetry in adult flatfishes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Manning, M. J., and Sutton, C. P. (2004). Age and growth of giant stargazer, Kathetostoma giganteurn, from the west coast of the South Island (STA 7). New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2004/l7. Ministry of Fisheries, Wellington, New Zealand

Mille, T., Mahe, K., Villanueva, M. C., De Pontual, H., and Ernande, B. (2015). Sagittal otolith morphogenesis asymmetry in marine fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 87, 646–663.
Sagittal otolith morphogenesis asymmetry in marine fishes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 26255775PubMed |

Mincarone, M. M., Bernardes, R. A., and Peppes, F. V. (2007). Occurrence of Pleuroscopus pseudodorsalis Barnard, 1927 (Uranoscopidae) near Rio Grande Plateau, western South Atlantic. Journal of Fish Biology 71, 1238–1240.
Occurrence of Pleuroscopus pseudodorsalis Barnard, 1927 (Uranoscopidae) near Rio Grande Plateau, western South Atlantic.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Nelson, J. S., Grande, T. C., and Wilson, M. V. H. (2016). ‘Fishes of the world.’ (John Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, USA.)

Norriss, J. V., and Crisafulli, B. (2010). Longevity in Australian snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 93, 129–132.

Okada, N., Takagi, Y., Seikai, T., Tanaka, M., and Tagawa, M. (2001). Asymmetrical development of bones and soft tissues during eye migration of metamorphosing Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Cell Tissue Research 304, 59–66.
Asymmetrical development of bones and soft tissues during eye migration of metamorphosing Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 11383887PubMed |

Sağlam, N. E., and Sağlam, C. (2013). Population parameters of stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber Linnaeus, 1758) in the southeastern Black Sea region during the 2011–2012 fishing season. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 29, 1313–1317.
Population parameters of stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber Linnaeus, 1758) in the southeastern Black Sea region during the 2011–2012 fishing season.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Schreiber, A. M. (2006). Asymmetric craniofacial remodeling and lateralized behavior in larval flatfish. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 610–621.
Asymmetric craniofacial remodeling and lateralized behavior in larval flatfish.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wakefield, C. B., Moore, G. I., Bertram, A. E., Snow, M., and Newman, S. J. (2016). Extraordinary capture of a Randall’s snapper Randallichthys filamentosus in the temperate south‐eastern Indian Ocean and its molecular phylogenetic relationship within the Etelinae. Journal of Fish Biology 88, 735–740.
Extraordinary capture of a Randall’s snapper Randallichthys filamentosus in the temperate south‐eastern Indian Ocean and its molecular phylogenetic relationship within the Etelinae.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 26511767PubMed |