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Symphurus megasomus Lee, Chen & Shao, 2009

Giant tonguefish
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Symphurus megasomus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Symphurus megasomus (Giant tonguefish)
Symphurus megasomus
Male picture by Lee, M.-Y.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Cynoglossidae (Tonguefishes) > Symphurinae
Etymology: Symphurus: Greek, syn, symphysis = grown together + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335);  megasomus: Name derived from the Greek, 'mega' for large, and 'somus' for body, referring to the large size of this species and the deep body without obvious tapering in the posterior body..

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; benthopelagic; depth range 200 - 640 m (Ref. 82423). Subtropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northwest Pacific: Taiwan.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 12.3, range 10 - 14.342 cm
Max length : 14.7 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 82423); 14.3 cm SL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 106 - 111; Anal soft rays: 91 - 96; Vertebrae: 55 - 58. This species is distinguished from all its congeners, except S. hondoensis and S. undatus, by its predominant 1-2-3-2-2 ID pattern. It also differs from both abovementioned species in having smaller eye (5.3-7.9% HL vs. 11.0-14.9% HL in S. hondoensis and 11.5-13.8% HL in S. undatus). This species further differs from S. hondoensis in having 9 abdominal vertebrae (vs. 10). S. megasomus is also distinguished from S. undatus, by having higher fin-ray counts, 106-111 dorsal-fin rays and 91-96 anal-fin rays (vs. 101-105 dorsal-fin rays and 87-91 anal-fin rays) and a uniform straw-colored to dark brown ocular-side coloration (vs. freckled ocular-side pigmentation) (Ref. 82423).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This deep-water tonguefish species is known only from the continental shelf and upper continental slope off northeastern and eastern Taiwan; from 471-640 m by research vessels. Polychaetes, small crustaceans and some unidentified detritus were found in the digestive systems of fishes examined. Little else is known regarding the biology of this species (Ref. 82423).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Lee, M.-Y., H.-M. Chen and K.-T. Shao, 2009. A new species of deep-water tonguefish genus Symphurus (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) from Taiwan. Copeia 2009(2):342-347. (Ref. 82423)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 15 October 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 9.6 - 16.7, mean 12.5 °C (based on 17 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01445 (0.00647 - 0.03228), b=3.05 (2.85 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).