Australian Museum Journal The world’s smallest vertebrate, Schindleria brevipinguis, a new paedomorphic species in the family Schindleriidae (Perciformes: Gobioidei)
- Shortform:
- Watson and Walker, 2004, Rec. Aust. Mus. 56(2): 139–142
- Author(s):
- Watson, William; Walker, H. J.
- Year published:
- 2004
- Title:
- The world’s smallest vertebrate, Schindleria brevipinguis, a new paedomorphic species in the family Schindleriidae (Perciformes: Gobioidei)
- Serial title:
- Records of the Australian Museum
- Volume:
- 56
- Issue:
- 2
- Start page:
- 139
- End page:
- 142
- DOI:
- 10.3853/j.0067-1975.56.2004.1429
- Language:
- English
- Date published:
- 07 July 2004
- Cover date:
- 07 July 2004
- ISSN:
- 0067-1975
- CODEN:
- RAUMAJ
- Publisher:
- The Australian Museum
- Place published:
- Sydney, Australia
- Digitized:
- 07 July 2004
- Available online:
- 07 July 2004
- Reference number:
- 1429
- EndNote package:
- EndNote file
- Title page:
- Title page (11kb PDF)
- Complete work:
- Complete work (105kb PDF)
Abstract
Schindleria brevipinguis n.sp., from the Lizard Island-Carter Reef vicinity of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia and from Osprey Reef nearby in the Coral Sea, is a small, unpigmented gobioid species distinctive in having fewer dorsal- and anal-fin rays and a deeper body with larger eyes than the other described species, S. pietschmanni and S. praematura. The urogenital papilla of male S. brevipinguishas a markedly different shape from those of the other two species. Schindleria brevipinguis apparently provides an even more extreme example of paedomorphosis than its congeners, and with males maturing by 7 mm and the largest specimen only 8.4 mm, it almost certainly is the world's smallest fish and smallest vertebrate.