A new species of deep sea cusk-eel Bassozetus sp. (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae) from the Western Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The cusk-eel Bassozetus sp. is described based on a single specimen collected in a Epi-Benthic Sledge (EBS) at a depth of 1,489 m in the Western Pacific Ocean. The species can be identification of deep-sea fish specimen from the Western Pacific Ocean using two mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) genes. The mitocondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes of deep-sea fish species were sequenced and the length of each nucleotides corresponding to CO1 and 16S rRNA were 721 bp and 608 bp. Based on the result obtained, molecular phylogenetic tree was constructed using maximum likelihood (ML) method. The molecular phylogenetic tree based on mitocondrial COI gene sequence showed that this species were clustered together with Bassozetus zenkevitchi, Bassozetus glutinosus, and Bassozetus compressus. In addition, phylogenetic tree based on 16S and combined COI and 16S rRNA genes showed that deep-sea fish species and Bassozetus zenkevitchi were placed together as sister groups, suggesting that this species belonging to the Bassozetus (Family: Ophidiidae). In this study, our specimen was identified as a new species, Bassozetus sp., from the Western Pacific Ocean based on partial mitocondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes.