Microbrotula

[[Genus Microbrotula]]

Gosline (1953) established the genus Microbrotula for two species of livebearing brotulas from coral reef and rubble areas in Hawaii, with M. rubra the type species. The second species, M. nigra, was transferred to Oligopus Risso where it was a homonym and renamed O. waikiki, now Grammonus waikiki (Cohen, 1964; Nielsen and Cohen, 1999). Within their redefined subfamily Bythitinae, family Bythitidae, Cohen and Nielsen (1978) suggested Microbrotula might be a shallow-water derivative of the bathyal genus Cataetyx. Machida (2000) considered his new genus Acarobythites close to Microbrotula which it resembles in many characters, but differs from it in its lack of scales, 11-12 caudal-fin rays, morphology of the anteriormost neural spines, vomerine teeth arranged in a single row, indistinct lateral line and short pectoral and pelvic fins.

Cohen and Wourms (1976) described Microbrotula randalli from five specimens taken on reefs at Efate Island, Vanuatu, and American Samoa. Additional material I have examined is listed below. Cohen and Nielsen (1978) alluded to Microbrotula specimens from the Red Sea, and Nielsen and Cohen (1999) stated that several undescribed species occur in the Indo-Pacific region. The first southwestern Indian Ocean record of Microbrotula was brought to my attention from scuba collections made by Mr. Andy Bentley at Aliwal Shoal, South Africa, in the summer of 2002. The purpose of this paper is to describe this material and re-diagnose Microbrotula Gosline.