Tony
Christopher Scharpf wrote:
>
> > Schindleria brevipinguis {Saltwater Goby} 6.5 mm! (Watson and Walker 2004)
>
> Kottelat et al. question the veracity of this record:
>
> "An Australian marine gobioid fish, Schindleria brevipinguis (family
> Schindleriidae), was recently presented as 'almost certainly' the world's
> smallest vertebrate maturing 'by 7 mm',-in-'7-8 mm' or '6.5-7 mm' on
> different pages in the paper (Watson & Walker 2004). Of the six known
> specimens, however, sexual maturity was objectively established only for the
> single female measuring 8.4 mm. Maturity of the smaller males seems to have
> been inferred from the presence of the genital papilla as specimens were not
> dissected. Without histological examination, sexual maturity can be
> objectively established only by the presence of ripe eggs in the female's
> ovaries. That means, however, that Trimmatom nanus, another marine
> gobioid (Gobiidae), which has 'fully developed eggs ... present from a
> standard length of 8 mm and greater' (largest known individual 10.2 mm)
> (Winterbottom & Emery 1981), is the smallest previously recorded
> vertebrate."
>
> Furthermore ...
>
> "The discovery of P. progenetica, with a mature female of just 7.9 mm and a
> maximum size of 10.3 mm, makes it the smallest recorded vertebrate species,
> slightly smaller than the marine goby T. nanus. Paedocypris micromegethes,
> the females of which mature-in-8.8 mm (maximum 11.6 mm), comes a close
> second as the smallest freshwater vertebrate.
>
> "The 7.9 mm mature female of P. progenetica is not an unusually small
> individual. The 1 mm mesh size that we use in peat swamps only rarely
> catches specimens smaller than 7 mm and, therefore, introduces a size bias
> in our samples. Our largest sample contains 56 females (MZB5998, 5999, ZRC
> 43199), including the 7.9 mm one and the individuals unambiguously
> identifiable as females are 5.9-8.3 mm. The largest female is only slightly
> larger than the smallest mature one."
>
> Not taking sides here. It's just what the paper says.
>
> Chris Scharpf
> Baltimore
> /-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
> / Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
> / reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
> / visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
> / consistent with the guidelines as per
> / http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
> / help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
> / http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml