Overview of Antarctic icefish species of  the genus <em>Channichthys</em> Richardson, 1844  (Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae) based on  morphological studies

Ekaterina Nikolaeva

doi:10.21638/spbu03.2024.304

Authors

Ekaterina Nikolaeva Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab., 1, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2156-1862

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2024.304

Abstract

The study presents the results of a most recent comprehensive review of the morphology of little-studied endemic Antarctic icefishes of the genus Channichthys Richardson, 1844 (family Channichthyidae). It aims at a detailed taxonomic revision in order to analyze their general similarity and relationships and to conclude on the exact species composition of this genus. Previously, there was reported from 1 polymorphic to 9 separate sympatrically widespread species within the genus Channichthys, while the validity of most species remained questionable up to date. In this study, the structure of the gill apparatus and the seismosensory system have been studied along with the up-to-date methods of digital microfocus radiography and statistical methods accompanied by conventional methods of analyzing the external morphology of fish. The representatives of all nine species listed previously in different publications were analyzed with strict reference to museum collections. As a result, the validity of only four out of nine nominal species of the genus Channichthys was confirmed: Ch. rhinoceratus, Ch. rugosus, Ch. velifer, and Ch. panticapae. The validity of five other species has not been confirmed: three species (Ch. aelitae, Ch. mithridatis, and Ch. richardsoni) are conspecific with Ch. rhinoceratus, while two species (Ch. bospori and Ch. irinae) with Ch. panticapae. Most of their distinctive morphological characters, identified previously as indicators of the species level, overlap with those of valid species. Improved differential diagnoses of valid species of the genus Channichthys have been compiled, including key features that make it possible to identify the species of this genus correctly.

Keywords:

Antarctic icefishes, morphology, taxonomy, validity, review, Notothenioidei, Channichthyidae

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Andriashev, A. P. 1986. General reviews of bottom fish fauna of Antarctic. In: Morphology and Distribution of Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta Akademii nauk SSSR 153:9–44. (In Russian)

Balushkin, A. V. 1992. Classification, relationships, and origin of families of fishes of suborder Notothenioidei. Voprosy ikhtiologii 32:3–19. (In Russian)

Balushkin, A. V. 1996. Similarity of the white-blooded fish of fam. Channichthyidae (Notothenioidei, Perciformes) with the notes on species composition of the family and description of new species off Kerguelen Islands. Voprosy ikhtiologii 36:5–14. (In Russian)

Balushkin, A. V. and Fedorov, V. V. 2002. Supplementations to the systematic list of fishes of the Southern Ocean. Izvestiia Zoologicheskogo instituta 4:5–22. (In Russian)

Balushkin, A. V. and Nikolaeva, E. A. 2015. “Dolichobranchiata” mutation in the Antarctic representatives from the families of plunderfishes (Artedidraconidae) and white-blooded (Channichthyidae) fish (Notothenioidei). Journal of Ichthyology 55:9–15. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945215010014

Duhamel, G., Gasco, N., and Davaine, P. 2005. Poissons des Îles Kerguelen et Crozet. Guide Régional de l’Océan: Austral. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Eastman, J. T. and Eakin, R. R. 2021. Checklist of the species of notothenioid fishes. Antarctic Science 33:273–280. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102020000632

Gon, O. and Heemstra, P. C. 1990. Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J. L. B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.141868

Hureau, J. C. 1964. Sur la probable identité des deux espèces du genre Chaenichthys de la famille des Chaenichthyidae. Bulletin du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. Paris. Ser. 2 36:450–456.

Hureau, J. C. 1985. Channichthyidae; pp. 261–277 in Fischer, W. and Hureau, J. C. (eds), FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes, Southern Ocean. FAO, Rome.

Iwami, T. and Kock, K. H. 1990. Channichthyidae (icefishes); pp. 381–400 in Gon, O. and Heemstra, P. C. (eds), Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Kock, K. H. 2005. Antarctic icefishes (Channichthyidae): a unique family of fishes. A review, Part I. Polar Biology 28:862–895. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0019-z

Manilo, L. 2021. Type specimens in the fish collection of the National Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. GEO&BIO 21:25–34. https://doi.org/10.15407/gb2105

Meisner, E. E. 1974. New species Chaenichthys from the Southern Ocean. Vestnik zoologii 6:50–55. (In Russian)

Meisner, E. E. and Kratkii, V. E. 1978. New data on distribution of Antarctic fishes. Biologiia moria, 4:16–21. (In Russian)

Muschick, M., Nikolaeva, E., Rüber, L., and Matschiner, M. 2022. The mitochondrial genome of the red icefish (Channichthys rugosus) casts doubt on its species status. Polar Biology 45:1541–1552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-022-03083-8

Nelson, J. S., Grande, T., and Wilson, M. V. H. 2016. Fishes of the World. 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119174844

Nikolaeva, E. A. 2016. Systematics of the Kerguelen icefishes of the genus Channichthys Richardson, 1844 (fam. Channichthyidae); pp. 86–87 in Zaitseva, O. V. and Petrov, A. A. (eds), Materialy 3-i Vserossiiskoi konferentsii "Sovremennye problemy evolutsionnoi morfologii zhivotnykh (26–28 sentiabria 2016 g., Sankt-Peterburg). Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg. (In Russian)

Nikolaeva, E. A. 2017. Taxonomic revision of the Antarctic icefishes of the genus Channichthys Richardson, 1844 (fam. Channichthyidae); pp. 134–137 in Sinev, S. Yu. and Stanyukovich, M. K. (eds), Materialy iubileinoi otchetnoi nauchnoi sessii, posviashchennoi 185-letiiu Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN (13–16 noiabria 2017 g., Sankt-Peterburg). Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg. (In Russian)

Nikolaeva, E. A. 2019. A review of the Icefish species from the genus Channichthys Richardson, 1844 (Channichthyidae) with double-rowed gill rakers. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN 323: 558–567. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2019.323.4.558 (In Russian)

Nikolaeva, E. A. 2020. Redescription of the unicorn icefish Channichthys rhinoceratus Richardson (Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae) with synonymization of three similar species. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN 324:485–496. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2020.324.4.485 (In Russian)

Nikolaeva, E. A. 2021. On the taxonomic status of the red icefish Channichthys rugosus (Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae) from the Kerguelen islands (South Ocean). Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN 325:485–494. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2021.325.4.485 (In Russian)

Nikolaeva, E. A. and Balushkin, A. V. 2019. Morphological characteristics of the Sail Icefish Channichthys velifer (Channichthyidae) from the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean). Journal of Ichthyology 59:834–842. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945219060079

Regan, C. T. 1913. The Antarctic fishes of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 49:229–292. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0080456800003951

Richardson, J. 1844. Description of a new genus of gobioid fish. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13:461–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/03745484409442631

Richardson, J. 1844–1848. The zoology of the voyage of H. M. S. “Erebus and Terror”, under the command of Capt. Sir James Clark Ross during the years 1839 to 1843. Vol. II. Ichthyology. E. W. Janson, London. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.7364

Shandikov, G. A. 1995a. A new species of icefish, Channichthys panticapei sp. n. (Channichthyidae, Notothenioidei) from the Kerguelen Island (Antarctica). Trudy Iuzhnogo nauchno-issledovatel'skogo instituta morskogo rybnogo khoziaistva i okeanografii (IugNIRO), Special Issue 1:1–10. (In Russian)

Shandikov, G. A. 1995b. To the question about the composition of icefish species of the genus Channichthys in the Kerguelen Islands area with description of three new species. Trudy Iuzhnogo nauchno-issledovatel'skogo instituta morskogo rybnogo khoziaistva i okeanografii (IugNIRO), Special Issue, 2:1–18. (In Russian)

Shandikov, G. A. 1996. On taxonomic status of Channichthys velifer (Pisces: Perciformes, Channichthyidae) from Kerguelen Submarine Ridge Area (East Antarctica). Vestnik zoologii 3:13–20. (In Russian)

Shandikov, G. A. 2008. Channichthys mithridatis sp. n., a new species of icefishes (Perciformes: Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae) from the Kerguelen Islands area, East Antarctica, with comments on the taxonomic status of Channichthys normani. Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: Biology 814:123–131.

Shandikov, G. A. 2011. Channichthys richardsoni sp. n., a new Antarctic icefish (Perciformes: Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae) from the Kerguelen Islands area, Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: Biology 971:125–134.

Voskoboinikova, O. S. 2001. Early life history of two Channichthys species from the Kerguelen Islands, Antarctica (Pisces: Notothenioidei: Channichthyidae). Zoosystematica Rossica 10:407–412. https://doi.org/10.31610/zsr/2001.10.2.407