Description of a new genus and species of zoarcid fish, bellingshausenia olasoi, from the bellingshausen Sea (southern ocean)

A new genus and species of zoarcid fish, Bellingshausenia olasoi, is described on the basis of five specimens collected from the Bellingshausen Sea, Southern Ocean, at depths of 602-615 m. Bellingshausenia is a lycodine that can be distinguished from all other zoarcid genera by the following combination of characters: seven branchiostegal rays, scapular foramen open, cranium narrowed, smooth ceratohyal-epihyal articulation, palatal arch well developed, supratemporal commissure and occipital pores absent, intercalar reduced and displaced backward and parasphenoid wing high. The relationships of the new genus are discussed. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.