Eel Blenny

Peronedys anguillaris Steindachner

Peronedys anguillaris Steindachner, 1884:1083 [holotype: St. Vincent Gulf, South Australia; location of holotype unknown, possibly at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna].

Ophioclinus devisi Ogilby, 1894:373 [2 syntypes: AMS I.362, Queensland, Moreton Bay].

Scleropteryx bicolor DeVis in Ogilby, 1894:374 [manuscript name for Ophioclinus devisi; not available by reason of appearance only in synonymy, where it has been placed by various authors].

Neogunellus microchirus Herzenstein, 1896:7 [3 syntypes: ZIL 6640, South Australia, St. Vincent Gulf].

Eucentronotus zietzi Ogilby, 1898:294 [syntype: SAMA F.1491, South Australia, St. Vincent Gulf].

DESCRIPTION (character given in “Diagnosis” under Peronedys not repeated here).—Anal fin II,55–62; anal-fin origin at vertical from base of 24th–27th dorsal-fin spine; pectoral-fin rays 3 or 4; caudal fin 0–2 + 13 + 0–1; vomerine teeth uniserial; vomer with numerous fleshy papillae posteriorly; vertebrae 31–35 + 57–63 = 89–96; cephalic sensory pores simple; tube of anterior nostril proximal to dorsal margin of upper lip; hooklike process on cleithrum absent.

Lateral Line: Dorsoanterior series of 9–15 pores connected by diagonal series of pits to posterior midlateral series of pits; pored series originating at vertical above posterior ½ of opercle length and extending posteriorly to points varying from just posterior to opercle to ¾ distance between posteriormost point of opercle and dorsal-fin origin; midlateral series of pits ending on posterior portion of caudal peduncle.

Color Pattern: Head: pale with brown stripes extending from snout tip to posterior margin of opercle; dorsal surface with dark-brown stripes from snout tip to point midway between orbits; posterior to orbits, 7 or 8 brown bands extending to and fusing at position varying from above anterior margin to above posterior ½ of opercle length, continuing as dark stripe occupying upper ¼ of body to caudal-fin base. Body: pale with brown stripes, which are confluent with head stripes; all stripes not discrete for entire lengths; most stripes fusing at point on posterior ¼–1/8 of body length; stripes on lower ¼ of body fuse and form wide, darker stripe near anal-fin base (stripe not as dark as stripe below dorsal-fin base). Dorsal fin dark brown; anal fin brown with distal ½–2/3 pale; pectoral and pelvic fins pale; dorsal and ventral caudal-fin rays brown, center rays pale.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—N = 27; SL = 40.5–120 mm. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: USNM uncataloged (1 cleared and stained specimen); KANGAROO ISLAND, SAMA F.3594 (62.0), SAMA F.2390 (12: 40.5–92.6), AMS I.20193-001 (6: 44.5-120), USNM 218785 (103), USNM 206172 (84.0); ST. VINCENT GULF, ZIL 6640 (radiograph of 3 syntypes of Neogunellus microchirus, approximately 53–64 mm). QUEENSLAND: MORETON BAY, AMS I.362 (2 syntypes of Ophioclinus devisi, 74.8; smaller of the two is headless).

Sticharium Günther

Sticharium Günther, 1867:63 [type-species: Sticharium dorsale Günther, 1867, by monotypy].

Breona E.O.G. Scott, 1967:210 [type-species: Breona greeni E.O.G. Scott, 1967, by monotypy].

DIAGNOSIS.—Dorsal fin XXXVI-XLIII,1; dorsal-fin origin at vertical approximately at anus; pectoral-fin longer than orbital diameter; pelvic-fin longer than orbital diameter; 32–42 pores (difficult to enumerate) in dorsoanterior portion of lateral line; eyes dorsolateral; posteriormost point of opercle below level of horizontal septum of body; scales inconspicuous, giving body a naked appearance, posteriorly more numerous and tending to follow lines of myomeres; POL in HL 1.2–1.4; predorsal bones 8–17.

COMPARISONS.—Sticharium is superficially similar to Peronedys in having an eel-like body and the scales more numerous posteriorly.

SYNONYMY.—Although we have not been able to examine the type specimen on which the genus Breona is based, information in the original description, which includes an illustration of the holotype of the type-species, B. greeni, together with data obtained from specimens in the Queen Victoria Museum identified as Breona greeni from the same locality as the type-species, convinces us that Breona is a synonym of Sticharium. Counts of fin elements, vertebrae, and predorsal bones for the S. dorsale syntypes agree with those for B. greeni specimens, and both groups of specimens have similar dorsal- and anal-fin origins.

E.O.G. Scott (1967) stated that Breona differed from Sticharium by having teeth on the vomer and by having 1 segmented dorsal-fin ray, and by not having the pelvic fins much longer than the pectoral fins. He reported vomerine teeth “disposed irregularly in a largish ovoid patch.” In B. greeni specimens (including cleared and stained material), as in the S. dorsale syntypes, a single row of teeth is present on the vomer. Numerous papillae, which may be mistaken for teeth, are usually present behind the row of vomerine teeth. In the B. greeni specimens, the pelvic fins vary from shorter than, to longer than, the pectoral fins; therefore, the comparative lengths of these fins do not distinguish Breona from Sticharium.