The Multituberculate Lumpsucker Eumicrotremus multituberculatus sp. nova (Cottoidei, Cyclopteridae) from the Bering Sea

Abstract

A new species multituberculate lumpsucker Eumicrotremus multituberculatus from the western part of the Aleutian Islands of the Bering Sea is described. The absence of tubes of the anterior nostrils and the presence of very short tubes of the posterior nostrils, numerous and very small conical bone plaques on the head and the trunk (15–17 in the circumpectoral row) without the central large spine on the plaque top distinguish the new species from other species of the genus Eumicrotremus. The new species is also differed by the terminal shape of mouth, equal length of jaws and smaller size of eye from the close species E. asperrimus and E. phrynoides. The sizes of pre-spawning females of E. multituberculatus are much less, than those of E. asperrimus. E. multituberculatus also differs from E. phrynoides by the presence of three to four rows of bone plaques on the throat and the presence of bone plaques on the rays of the first dorsal fin, and from E. asperrimus—by a dark peritoneum.