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Leptachirus is described as a new genus of Soleidae for Aseraggodes klunzingeri (Weber) and eight new species from fresh or brackish water habitats in southern New Guinea and northern Australia formerly identified as A. klunzingeri. Leptachirus is differentiated from Aseraggodes, all species of which are marine, by its more slender body (depth 2.7-3.55 in SL), the corner of its jaws exposed on the cheek, usually 3 or 4 pelvic rays, shorter pelvic fins, each usually with 3 or 4 rays, and different pattern of its cephalic lateralis sensory system. The type species, L. alleni, is from the Bintung River, New Guinea; L. bensbach, L. kikori, and L. lorentz are named for the rivers in New Guinea in which they were collected; L. robertsi is from the Fly River in Papua New Guinea; L. darwinensis, very similar to L. bensbach, from the East and South Alligator Rivers and the Adelaide River of the Northern Territory of Australia; L. polylepis, with a high lateral-line scale count of 103-111, from the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers and the Mmy River; and L. triramus from the Victoria River of Northern Territory and the nearby Ord River of Western Australia. The last species is the most divergent, having three instead of two branches of the lateral line on the ocular side of the head, and the pelvic fin of that side attached to the genital papilla. The holotype of L. klunzingeri Weber, described from one specimen collected in the mouth of the Merauke River, New Guinea, has been lost. Weber's illustration shows a fish with a deeper body and broader interorbital space than the other eight species. Additional species of Leptachirus might be expected from other rivers of New Guinea and northern Australia are better collected. INTRODUCTION Weber (1908) described Pardamirus klunzingeri as a new species of sole from one 105 mm specimen collected from brackish water at the mouth of the Merauke River on the south coast of New Guinea, in what is now the Indonesian province of Papua. Unfortunately, the specimen is not extant, but Weber provided a very good drawing (reproduced as Figure 5). The Zoologisch Museum of Amsterdam loaned eight specimens (ZMA 109.399, 54.5-81.0 mm SL) from freshwater in the Lorentz River of southern New Guinea that were identified as Aseraggodes klunzingeri by Weber (1913). The mouth of this river is 450 km to the northwest of the Merauke River along a low marshy coastline, so the specimens might be expected to be klunzingeri. However, the Lorentz River specimens are a different species. Recent studies of the genus Aseraggodes by Randall and Melendez (1987), Randall (1996, 2002, 2005), Randall and Bartsch (2005), Randall and Gon (2005), Randall and Senou (2007), Randall and Bartsch (in press) and Randall and Desoutter (in press) have raised the total number of species of the genus to 47, making it the largest of the Soleidae, all from marine habitats. After Pardachirus klunzingeri was reclassified in the genus Aseraggodes by Weber (1913), specimens identified as klunzingeri have been consistently placed in this genus. These specimens are all from fresh or brackish water habitats, have a more slender body, the posterior end of the jaws exposed on the cheek, usually 3 or 4 pelvic rays, shorter pelvic fins, and a cephalic lateralis sensory system on the blind side characterized by numerous temporal commissures of papillae and cirri linking the dorsal main branch of the lateral line with the cephalodorsal line along the base of the dorsal fin. They are reclassified here in a new genus. Examination of specimens identified as Aseraggodes klunzingeri from rivers on the south coast of New Guinea, including Weber's specimens from the Lorentz River, and northern Australia has revealed eight new species in a new genus, which are described in the present paper. Specimens of the new genus are lacking from many rivers and estuarine areas of New Guinea DOI: 10.18195/issn.0312-3162.24(1).2007.081-108

Leptachirus, a new soleid fish genus from New Guinea and northern Australia, with descriptions of eight new species