Broadhurst'S Tongue Sole

fisheries: of no interest

Cynoglossus broadhursti Waite

Cynoglossus broadhursti Waite, 1905:73, pl. 8; fig. 2 [type-locality: off Carnarvon to the northward of Houtman’s Abrolhos].—Norman, 1926:302 [mouth of Murray R.].

DESCRIPTION.—Based on 4 specimens, 183.0–229.0 mm SL.

Depth of body 26.78–29.26 (M = 27.94), length of head 17.72–20.74 (M = 19.00) percent of standard length. Diameter of eye 10.47–11.84 (M = 11.15), interorbital space 7.37–10.29 (M = 8.43) percent of length of head. Two nostrils on ocular side, anterior nostril tubular, in front of lower eye, posterior nostril simple, in the anterior half of the interorbital space. Snout rounded, 26.47–34.21 (M = 30.36) percent of length of head, rostral hook short, extending to front of the anterior nostril. Maxillary extending to below posterior half of fixed eye; angle of mouth extending to below vertical from middle of fixed eye, nearer to tip of snout than to branchial opening; tip of snout to angle of mouth 40.00–47.37 (M = 43.48), angle of mouth to branchial opening 52.63–55.81 (M = 54.53) percent of length of head.

Scales: Ctenoid on ocular side except those of lateral lines; scales of the blind side and those of lateral lines on ocular side cycloid.

Lateral-Line System: Two lateral lines on ocular side, dorsolateral line running backward along the dorsal contour of body and entering dorsal fin along the 6th to 14th ray, counted from the rear, midlateral line with 72–77 scales, 12–14 scales between middle and upper lateral lines. No lateral line on blind side.

Interlinear scale rows 12 13 14

Frequencies 2 1 1

Fins: Dorsal with 105–110 (M = 107) rays, anal with 83–87 (M = 85) rays, caudal 10 in 5 specimens (radiographs).

Vertebrae: 51–54 comprising 9 abdominal and 42–45 caudal elements in 5 specimens (radiograph).

Coloration: Upper side uniformly brownish, lower whitish or yellowish in preserved specimens.

DISTRIBUTION.—Western and southern Australia.

Size: The largest specimen examined, 245 (229 + 16) mm, is from the mouth of the Murray River.

DIAGNOSIS AND AFFINITIES: Cynoglossus broadhursti is readily distinguished from its close relatives, C. maculipinnis and C. ogilbyi, by a greater interlinear scale count (12–14, M = 12 cf. 8 in C. ogilbyi and 10–13, M = 11 in C. maculipinnis).

TYPE SPECIMEN.—Holotype of C. broadhursti, a specimen trawled off Carnarvon to the northward of Houtman’s Abrolhos, in Australian Museum, Sydney (not examined).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED.—2 specimens, AMS 1.10360 and 1,10359, mouth of Murray River, S Australia. 2, WAM P 14739 and P 14741, Shark Bay, W. Australia, coll. W. and W. Poob Bros., 18.9.65. 1. BMNH 1925.722.83, W Australia, coll. Endeavour.

The ecaudatus complex

Cynoglossus ecaudatus and its relatives C. sinusarabici, C. dollfusi, and C. cadenati have their center of distribution in the western sector of the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez, the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Senegal-Ghana coast. This complex is related to the kopsi complex and is most probably descended from a common ancestral stock.

The principal characters distinguishing this complex are the large contiguous eyes with a narrow interorbital space, one or two lateral lines, and the ctenoid scales on both sides of the body.

Cynoglossus broadhursti, commonly known as the Southern tonguesole is a species of tonguefish. It is commonly found in the Indian Ocean off western and southern Australia.