Gnatholepis Bleeker, 1874

Genus Gnatholepis Bleeker, 1874 View in CoL

Gnatholepis is a genus predominantly distributed in the Indo-West Pacific. Only one of 10 recognized extant species ( Froese & Pauly, 2023) lives in the West Atlantic and a few areas of the East Atlantic: Gnatholepis thompsoni Jordan, 1904. Otoliths are figured of G. thompsoni from the West Atlantic ( Fig. 44i–j View Fig ) and from Ascension Island in the central Atlantic ( Fig. 44h View Fig ). Te otoliths of G. thompsoni do not show any significant morphological difference in the two regions. Te otoliths of G. thompsoni are characterized by a high-bodied shape (OL:OH = 0.8– 0.88) underpinned by a strongly elevated postdorsal region and the unusual development of the ventral furrow that opens anteriorly and posteriorly to the ventral parts of the anterior and posterior rims. Tis latter feature appears to be fully developed only in specimens from a certain size onward (about 1.2 mm in length; compare Fig. 44i, j View Fig ).