First specimen-based records of Inu saikaiensis from Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Three specimens of Inu saikaiensis (Dôtu, 1957) (Oxudercidae) were collected from a rocky beach in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The specimens have the following combination of characters: head dorsoventrally compressed and forehead dorsally flat; 4–7 barbel-like processes below each eye; 2 cutaneous ridges on the chin; vertebrate 32–33; second dorsal-fin rays I, 8 or 9; anal-fin rays I, 8 or 9; pelvic-fin rays 18: caudal-fin rays 18 or 19; brown body absent of scales; belt-like aggregate of black dots (probably chromatophore) in caudal peduncle. In Japanese waters, the species has been previously recorded from the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea (Niigata, Ishikawa, Shimane, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Kumamoto prefectures) and the Seto Inland Sea (Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, and Ehime prefectures). Therefore, these specimens represent the first records of Inu saikaiensis from Fukui Prefecture.journal articl