Pacific Toadfishes of the Genus Porichthys (Batrachoididae) with Descriptions of Three New Species

Abstract

The genus Porichthys in the Pacific Ocean consists of eight species: P. analis Hubbs and Schultz (1939), P. ephippiatus n. sp., P. greenei Gilbert and Starks (1904), P. margaritatus (Richardson, 1844), P. mimeticus n. sp., P. myriaster Hubbs and Schultz (1939), P. notatus Girard (1854) and P. oculellus n. sp. Characters useful for identification include gill-raker counts, fin pigmentation, photophore pattern and fin-ray counts. The original type of P. margaritatus is presumed lost and a neotype is designated. Zoogeographic range endpoints for these customarily soft-bottom fishes generally coincide with faunal boundaries established for rocky shore fishes in the eastern tropical Pacific.