Protoblepharon mccoskeri

Protoblepharon mccoskeri, the Taiwanese flashlight fish, is a flashlight fish species found in the Northwest Pacific off of Taiwan's east coast. It can be found as deep as 300m.[1] It was first described in 2012 from a single specimen caught near Taiwan.[2]

Protoblepharon mccoskeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Beryciformes
Family:
Anomalopidae
Genus:
Protoblepharon
Species:
P. mccoskeri
Binomial name
Protoblepharon mccoskeri
H. C. Ho & G. D. Johnson, 2012

Taxonomy

The first scientific description of the Taiwanese flashlight fish was authored in 2012 by ichthyologists Hsuan-Ching Ho and G. David Johnson. Its generic name derives from Greek protos, meaning "the first," and blepharon, meaning "eyelid." The species is named mccoskeri after Dr. John E. McCosker, a senior scientist at the California Academy of Sciences.[2]

Description

The Taiwanese flashlight fish has a thick body and relatively small, bulging eyes. Its head has very few scales. It differs from P. rosenblatti, its only congener in that it has a deeper body, shorter snout, smaller light organ, and larger cup under the eye. There are about 260 rows of scales along its body. It is a reddish black color[2] and can reach lengths of up to 30.5 cm.[1]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2016). "Protoblepharon mccoskeri" in FishBase. December 2016 version.
  2. Ho, Hsuan-Ching; G.D. Johnson (2012). "Protoblepharon mccoskeri, a new flashlight fish from eastern Taiwan (Teleostei: Anomalopidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa (3479): 77–87.


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