Abstract
A taxonomic review of the waspfish genus Liocranium Ogilby, 1903 (Tetrarogidae) resulted in two species of the genus being regarded as valid: L. praepositum Ogilby, 1903 (type species of the genus) and L. pleurostigma (Weber, 1913) (previously regarded as a junior synonym of L. praepositum). Liocranium pleurostigma is distinguished from L. praepositum by colour pattern, gill-raker counts and several morphometrics, including upper-jaw length, depth of the posterior margin of the maxilla, length of the longest anal-fin soft ray, and position of the spine tip of the depressed pelvic fin. Lectotypes of the two nominal species are herein designated. Liocranium pleurostigma is distributed off the northwestern coast of Australia (east to Torres Strait), New Guinea and the Philippines, whereas L. praepositum occurs off the northeastern coast of Australia (north to about Hinchinbrook Island). Comments on the biogeography of Liocranium are also provided.References
Allen, G. R. & Cross, N. (1989) Scorpaenidae. In: Paxton, J. R., Hoese, D. F., Allen, G. R. & Hanley, J. E. (Eds.), Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 7. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 438–452.
Allen, G. R., Hoese, D. F., Cross, N. J. & Bray, D. J. (2006) Tetrarogidae. In: Hoese, D. F., Bray, D. J., Paxton, J. R. & Allen, G. R. (Eds.), Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35, Parts 1–3: Fishes. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 896–902.
Allen, G. R., Swainston, R. & Ruse, J. (1997) Marine fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and South-east Asia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Western Australian Museum, Perth, 292 pp.
Chappell, J. & Shackleton, N. J. (1986) Oxygen isotopes and sea level. Nature, 324, 137–140.
de Beaufort, L. F. (1949) Two new genera of scorpaenoid fishes. Copeia, 1949, 68.
de Beaufort, L. F. & Briggs, J. C. (1962) The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Vol. 11. E. J. Brill, Leiden, xi + 481 pp.
Eschmeyer, W. N., Hirosaki, Y. & Abe, T. (1973) Two new species of the scorpionfish genus Rhinopias, with comments on related genera and species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (series 4), 39, 285–310.
Galloway, R. W. & Kemp, E. M. (1981) Late Cainozoic environments in Australia. In: Keast, A. (Ed.), Ecological biogeography of Australia, Junk, The Hague, 51–80.
Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P. J. (1984) Trawled fishes of southern Indonesia and northwestern Australia. Australian Development Assistance Bureau, Directorate General of Fisheries, Indonesia, German Agency for Technical Cooperation, Jakarta, xvi + 406 pp.
Hutchins, J. B. (2001) Checklist of the fishes of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement, 63, 9–50.
Hutchins, J. B. (2003) Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. In: Wells, F. E., Walker, D. I. & Jones, D. S. (Eds.), The marine flora and fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth, 453–478.
Johnson, J. W. (1999) Annotated checklist of the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 43, 709–762.
Kuiter, R. H. & Debelius, H. (2006) World atlas of marine fishes. IKAN–Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt, vi + 720 pp.
Larson, H. K. & Williams, R. S. (1997) Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. In: Hanley, J. R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H. K. (Eds.), The marine flora and fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the sixth International Marine Biological Workshop. Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory and the Australian Marine Sciences Association, Darwin, 339–380.
Leviton, A. E., Gibbs, Jr, R. H., Heal, E. & Dawson, C. E. (1985) Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia, 1985, 802–832.
Mandrytsa, S. A. (2001) Lateral line system and classification of scorpaenoid fishes (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidei). Perm State University Press, Perm, 393 pp.
McCulloch, A. R. (1921) Notes and illustrations of Queensland fishes. No. 2. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 7, 164–178.
McCulloch, A. R. (1929) A check-list of the fishes recorded from Australia. Part 3. Memoirs of the Australian Museum, Memoir, 5, 329–436.
Mees, G. F. (1964a) Additions to the fish fauna of Western Australia—4. Fisheries Bulletin, Western Australia, 9, 31–55.
Mees, G. F. (1964b) A note on the genus Liocranium Ogilby (Pisces, Scorpaenidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 40, 5–7.
Motomura, H. (2004a) New species of scorpionfish, Scorpaena cocosensis (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) from the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica, eastern Pacific Ocean. Copeia, 2004, 818–824.
Motomura, H. (2004b) Revision of the scorpionfish genus Neosebastes (Scorpaeniformes: Neosebastidae), with descriptions of five new species. Indo–Pacific Fishes, (37), 1–76.
Motomura, H. & Johnson, J. W. (2006) Validity of the poorly known scorpionfish, Rhinopias eschmeyeri, with redescriptions of R. frondosa and R. aphanes (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae). Copeia, 2006, 500–515.
Motomura, H., Last, P. R. & Yearsley, G. K. (2006) New species of shallow water scorpionfish (Scorpaenidae: Scorpaena) from the central coast of Western Australia. Copeia, 2006, 360–369.
Motomura, H. & Senou, H. (2005) Validity of the scorpionfish genus Hipposcorpaena Fowler and a redescription of H. filamentosa Fowler (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae). Zoological Studies, 44, 210–218.
Munro, I. S. R. (1967) The fishes of New Guinea. Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries, Port Moresby, xxxvii + 651 pp.
Nijssen, H., van Tuijl, L. & Isbrücker, J. J. H. (1993) Revised catalogue of the type specimens of recent fishes in the Institute of Taxonomic Zoology (Zoölogisch Museum), University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Bulletin Zoölogisch Museum, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 13, 211–260.
Pitcher, C. R., Doherty, P., Arnold, P., Hooper, J., Gribble, N., Bartlett, C., Browne, M., Campbell, N., Cannard, T., Cappo, M., Carini, G., Chalmers, S., Cheers, S., Chetwynd, D., Colefax, A., Coles, R., Cook, S., Davie, P., De'ath, G., Devereux, D., Done, B., Donovan, T., Ehrke, B., Ellis, N., Ericson, G., Fellegara, I., Forcey, K., Furey, M., Gledhill, D., Good, N., Gordon, S., Haywood, M., Hendriks, P., Jacobsen, I., Johnson, J., Jones, M., Kinninmoth, S., Kistle, S., Last, P., Leite, A., Marks, S., McLeod, I., Oczkowicz, S., Robinson, M., Rose, C., Seabright, D., Sheils, J., Sherlock, M., Skelton, P., Smith, D., Smith, G., Speare, P., Stowar, M., Strickland, C., Van der Geest, C., Venables, W., Walsh, C., Wassenberg, T., Welna, A. & Yearsley, G. (2007a). Seabed biodiversity on the continental shelf of the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area. AIMS/CSIRO/QM/QDPI Final Report to CRC Reef Research, 315 pp.
Pitcher, C.R., Haywood, M., Hooper, J., Coles, R., Bartlett, C., Browne, M., Cannard, T., Carini, G., Carter, A., Cheers, S., Chetwynd, D., Colefax, A., Cook, S., Davie, P., Ellis, N., Fellegara, I., Forcey, K., Furey, M., Gledhill, D., Hendriks, P., Jacobsen, I., Johnson, J., Jones, M., Last, P., Marks, S., McLeod, I., Sheils, J., Sheppard, J., Smith, G., Strickland, C., Van der Geest, C., Venables, W., Wassenberg, T. & Yearsley, G. (2007b). Mapping and characterisation of key biotic & physical attributes of the Torres Strait ecosystem. CSIRO/QM/QDPI CRC Torres Strait Task Final Report, 145 pp.
Poss, G. S. (1999) Scorpaenidae. Scorpionfishes (also, lionfishes, rockfishes, stingfishes, stonefishes, and waspfishes). In: Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H. (Eds.), FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the western central Pacific. Vol. 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). FAO, Rome, 2291–2352.
Randall, J. E. & Eschmeyer, W. N. (2001) Revision of the Indo–Pacific scorpionfish genus Scorpaenopsis, with descriptions of eight new species. Indo–Pacific Fishes, (34), 1–79.
Sainsbury, K., Kailola, P. J. & Leyland, G. G. (1985) Continental shelf fishes of northern and north-western Australia. An illustrated guide. Clouston & Hall and Peter Pownall Fisheries Information Service, Canberra, viii + 375 pp.
Weber, M. (1913) Die fische der Siboga-Expedition. E. J. Brill, Leiden, xii + 710 pp.
Whitley, G. P. (1927) Studies in ichthyology. No. 1. Records of the Australian Museum, 15, 289–304.
Whitley, G. P. (1933) Studies in ichthyology. No. 7. Records of the Australian Museum, 19, 60–112.
Whitley, G. P. (1948) A list of the fishes of Western Australia. Fisheries Bulletin, Western Australia, 2, 1–35.