Sladenia gardineri, the Indian round angler, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the familyLophiidae, the goose fishes, monkfishes or anglers. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific.
Sladenia gardineri has the genus name Sladenia which honours Percy Sladen, the British echinoderm biologist. The holotype of S. gardineri was collected during an expedition funded by his memorial trust. The specific namegardineri honours John Stanley Gardiner, the British zoologist who collected the holotype.[5]
Description
Sladenia gardineri was described by Regan as having the no third dorsal spine, which Regan called an occipital ray, on the head with this third spine being present in the other Lophiid genera. The head is large, its length being half the length of the fish. There are 9 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 6 in the anal fin. The colour is dark grey marked with pale sinuous lines, the outer half of the pectoral fin is pale. The length of the holotype was 50 cm (20 in).[6]
Distribution
Sladenia gardineri is found in the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean[7] and has been recorded in the western Pacific Ocean off New South Wales,[8] although these specimens may represent an undescribed species or S. remiger.[1] The holotype was collected at a depth of 823 m (2,700 ft) "450 fathoms".[6]