Protoblepharon rosenblatti, a new genus and species of flashlight fish (Beryciformes: Anomalopidae) from the tropical South Pacific, with comments on anomalopid phylogeny

Abstract

Protoblepharon rosenblatti is described from a single large specimen collected at 274 m off Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It differs from other anomalopids most notably in having a low number of gill rakers on the first arch (21 vs. 24 or more), high number of body scale rows (ca. 145 vs. 130 or fewer), no postorbital papillae, and a very small gap between the lacrimal and nasal for passage of the fibrocartilaginous stalk, which is twisted and not broadly exposed posteriorly. Protoblepharon is a primitive member of the lineage of flashlight fishes characterized by a shutter mechanism for light-organ occlusion.