Kestratherina brevirostris, a new genus and species of silverside (Pisces : Atherinidae) with a review of atherinid marine and estuarine genera of southern Australia

Abstract

The systematics of southern Australian marine and estuarine atherinids has been confused by the many generic name changes since Richardson first described Atherina hepsetoides in 1843. Recent studies have shown that Atherinason esox (Klunzinger 1872) comprises two distinct species. Further studies using electrophoretic techniques have also shown that these two species belong in a new genus rather than in the genus Atherinason. The new genus Kestratherina will therefore include K. esox and a new species, K. brevirostris. Electrophoresis has also shown that Atherinosoma is not a cohesive group, and the two species originally assigned to that genus, A. presbyteroides (Richardson 1843) and A. wallacei, Prince, Ivantsoff and Potter 1982, must be placed into a new genus, Leptatherina.seagrass detritus, phytoplankton, diatoms, bacteria, zooplankton, fatty acids, sterols, fatty alcohols.