Bigeye Gurnard Perch, Maxillicosta lopholepis (Eschmeyer and Poss, 1976)

Scientific name: Maxillicosta lopholepis
  • Updated
    23/12/20
  • Read time
    2 minutes
Bigeye Gurnard Perch, Maxillicosta lopholepis Click to enlarge image
The holotype of M. lopholepis (WAM P.5736-001). Image: Karen Edwards
© Western Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Maxillicosta
    Species
    lopholepis
    Family
    Neosebastidae
    Class
    Actinopterygii
    Subphylum
    Vertebrata
    Phylum
    Chordata
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Size Range
    The species grows to 5 cm in length.

Introduction

The Bigeye Gurnard Perch is a very rare species that is only known from six specimens collected from off Shark Bay, Western Australia. The scales behind the head and above the lateral line have a strong spine on the posterior margin and no serrae on a median ridge. The Bigeye Gurnard Perch is the only species of Maxillicosta that has this scale structure. Nothing is known of its live colouration or habitat requirements.

Identification

The scales behind the head and above the lateral line of the Bigeye Gurnard Perch have a strong spine on the posterior margin and no serrae on a median ridge. The Bigeye Gurnard Perch is the only species of Maxillicosta that has this scale structure.

Nothing is known of its live colouration.

Bigeye Gurnard Perch, Maxillicosta lopholepis

Line drawing of a Bigeye Gurnard Perch scale. The scale is from above the lateral line, behind the head. Illustration based on that in Eschmeyer and Poss (1976: fig. 2c).

Image: Hiroyuki Motomura
© Hiroyuki Motomura

Habitat

The species has been collected from depths between 40 m and 120 m.

Distribution

The Bigeye Gurnard Perch is a very rare species that is only known from six specimens collected from off Shark Bay, Western Australia.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Distribution data sourced from the Atlas of Living Australia

References

  • Eschmeyer, W.N. and S.G. Poss. 1976. Review of the scorpionfish genus Maxillicosta (Pisces: Scorpaenidae), with a description of three new species from the Australian-New Zealand region. Bulletin of Marine Science. 26(4): 433-449.