D 108; A 99; P1 7; X 20+63=83.
HL 12.8% of TL; ED 2.5; BD 11.4; SN 5.0; UJ 5.4; P1L 4.9; PreD 15.9; PreA 32.2; PreP1 15.5.
Body elongate, extremely compressed, body depth about 9 times in SL. Skin loose, naked. Head small, about 8 times in SL. Snout very short, its length about 2 times of eye diameter. Mouth oblique, terminal, posterior margin of upper jaw extending to anterior margin of eye. Jaw teeth sharp conical, recurved; uniserial on upper jaw, several irregular rows near symphysis and uniserial laterally on lower jaw. Small conical teeth on vomer and palatines. Eye small, about 3.5 times in head. Interorbital narrow, its width about equal to eye diameter. Gill-opening small, about equal to pectoral fin base length. Dorsal fin origin just posterior to head. Dorsal and anal fins not clearly delimited from body, both with long base, dorsal fin base slightly longer. No pelvic fins. Pectoral fin short, nearly as long as upper jaw, about one-third of head length. A nostril short tube-like, situated between snout tip and anterior margin of eye. Buccal and branchial cavities, both jaws, tube of nostril, margin of gill-opening and tip of tail black. Body translucent with dusky fine spots scattered, so black peritonium and vertebrae visible through skin.
Distribution:
Chilean Patagonia and Straits of Magellan; also known from the Antarctic and Subantarctic zones (Norman, 1938).
Remarks:
In this region, there are two more species of Melanostigma, M. microphthalmus Norman, 1937 from Argentine Patagonia and M. bathium Bussing, 1965 from Chilean Patagonia. The latter differs from all other Melanostigma in being nearly colorless and having a complete supratemporal canal and no temporal pore (Bussing, 1965).
(Izumi NAKAMURA)
Distribution of Melanostigma gelatinosum in Patagonia.
Anterior part of body. Branchiostegals (1) and anus (2).