RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cynoglossus crepida, a new species of tonguesole from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea (Teleostei: Cynoglossidae)

Ronald Fricke, Daniel Golani & Brenda Golani-Appelbaum

Abstract

The Bluntnose Deepwater Tonguesole, Cynoglossus crepida, n. sp., is described from the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba, off Eilat, Israel, based on a specimen collected in a trammel net at a depth of 440 m. The new species is characterized within the C. carpenteri-species group by the relatively long, bluntly rounded snout; head length of 25% SL, snout length 10% SL (40% HL); eyes not contiguous; corner of mouth nearer to the posterior edge of the opercle than to the tip of the snout; eyed side with 3 lateral lines, lateral-line scales 104, scale rows between the midlateral and dorsolateral lines 17, blind side without lateral lines; ctenoid scales on both eyed and blind sides; dorsal-fin rays 115; anal-fin rays 103; caudal-fin rays 8; and the gill chamber and peritoneum black. A key to the species of the C. carpenteri-species group is presented.
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