Bollmannia venezuelana, Schwarzhans & Aguilera, 2024

Bollmannia venezuelana n. sp.

Figure 19g –i View Fig

1976 Gobiidae —Nolf: pl. 9, Fig. 6 View Fig .

Holotype NMB P15529 View Materials ( Fig. 19g View Fig ), Tortonian, Ojo de Agua FM, Venezuela, NMB 15730 View Materials .

Paratypes 4 specimens: 2 specimens Langhian , Trinidad, Brasso FM , 1 specimen KR 7546 ( NMB P540 View Materials ) , 1 specimen KR 7573 ( NMB P692 View Materials ) ; 2 specimens same data as holotype ( NMB P15530-31 View Materials ) .

Referred specimens 5 specimens same data as holotype .

Etymology After Venezuela, the country of origin of the holotype.

Diagnosis OL:OH = 1.07–1.12. Maximal size 3.8 mm (holotype). Predorsal angle high, rounded; postdorsal region elevated, distinctly and irregularly ornamented. Preventral angle slightly projecting; postdorsal projection slightly extending beyond postventral angle. Sulcus wide; OL:SuL = 1.7–1.8. Subcaudal iugum long, wide. Outer face with narrow but strongly projecting umbo close to ventral rim of otolith.

Description Otolith size up to 3.8 mm in length (holotype). OH:OT = 2.6–3.0. Predorsal angle low, rounded, postdorsal angle expanded. Postdorsal projection projecting slightly beyond postventral angle, not bent outward; preventral angle slightly projecting. Ventral rim straight, horizontal. Anterior and posterior rims slightly inclined, posterior rim with relatively deep indentation at its middle. Ventral rim smooth, dorsal rim broadly and irregularly crenulated.

Inner face nearly flat. Sulcus sole-shaped with moderate ostial lobe, moderately deepened, inclined at 14–20°. Caudal tip rounded, slightly bent upward. OL:SuL = 1.7– 1.8. Subcaudal iugum moderately long and wide. Dorsal depression wide, rather indistinct and close to sulcus with moderately developed crista superior. Ventral furrow distinct, relatively distant from ventral rim of otolith. Outer face with narrow, strongly projecting, subcentral umbo close to ventral rim of otolith, few radial furrows on dorsal field close to otolith margin.

Discussion Bollmannia venezuelana is relatively inconspicuous in appearance and differs from fossil and extant congeners only in subtle characteristics. It is distinctly more compressed than B. propensa with less projecting preventral and postdorsal projections. Bollmannia venezuelana most closely resembles the extant B. umbrosa from the East Pacific but differs in the higher predorsal angle (vs depressed) and the distinct subcentral umbo on the outer face, a trait that is not seen in a similar expression in any of the other known Bollmannia species. Bollmannia venezuelana differs from B. gatunensis in the less prominent postdorsal projection and the more strongly inclined sulcus (14–20° vs 10–15°).