Scartichthys crapulatus Williams 1990

More than 95 dentary incisors and small dark-brown or pale (brownish orange in life) spots on posterior half of body.

Oviparous, distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 19; Anal spines: 2; Analsoft rays: 19 - 20

Known only from the coast, on rocky bottoms (Ref. 10696). Oviparous. Eggs are demersal and adhesive (Ref. 205), and are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal (Ref. 94114). Larvae are planktonic, often found in shallow, coastal waters (Ref. 94114).

Scartichthys crapulatus

DIAGNOSIS.—A species of Scartichthys with more than 95 dentary incisors and small dark-brown or pale (brownish orange in life) spots on posterior half of body.

DESCTIPTION.—Dorsal fin XII,18–19 (18 in 14 of 15 specimens); anal fin II,19–20; total procurrent caudal-fin rays 14–15; pelvic fin I,4; vertebrae 10 + 24 = 34; last pleural ribs on vertebral centrum 12; last epipleural rib on vertebral centrum 15–19 (17–19 in 11 of 12); anal pterygiophores 2–1–1 or 1–2–1 (1–2–1 in 9 of 12); nuchal cirri 6–33 (6–12 in 11 of 15); supraorbital cirri 17–32; nasal cirri 6–11; LL tubes 20–22 (21 in 14 of 16); last LL tube at base of caudal fin; no scale-like flaps along LL; lower lip smooth mesially (plicate laterally); gill rakers 22–27 (based on 5 specimens); pseudobranchial filaments on one side 10–12 (based on 7 specimens); premaxillary teeth 205–220 (based on 3 specimens); dentary teeth 92–113 (95–111 in 15 of 18; fewer than 95 only in specimens less than 50 mm SL); upper lip crenulae approximately 28–36; nuchal cirri in 2 groups widely separated across nape (Figure 8J); first dorsal-fin spine of adults approximately equal in length to second in both sexes; dorsal-fin membrane deeply incised above last dorsal-fin spine; dorsal-fin membrane attached to caudal peduncle in advance of caudal fin in adults; cephalic pore system relatively simple (less than 3 pores at most positions; number of pores increases with increasing SL); male genital papilla with urogenital orifice located basally between 2 small protuberances on a fleshy swelling behind anus (Figure 14E); testes elongate, length equals about twice width; maximum SL may reach 300 mm (Rosenblatt, pers. comm.), but the largest specimen collected measures 116 mm SL.

No mature females of this species have been examined, but the female holotype (~110 mm SL) has well-developed ovaries and females less than 70 mm SL do not. Males are mature at 116 mm SL, but not at 75 mm SL.

COLOR IN ALCOHOL.—Juveniles have a brown pupil-size stripe on paler background midlaterally on body, 9 to 11 saddle-like blotches (sometimes connected to form a continuous dark stripe) along dorsal surface of body, posterior half of body speckled with tiny black spots; head brown with small black spot, its diameter equal to about half diameter of pupil, behind posterior margin of eye; anterior 1 to 3 interspinal membranes of dorsal fin with black pupil-size spot, remainder of fins dusky; all cirri black.

Adult females (Figure 17) and males with brown background color on head and body, faint eye-size dark stripe midlaterally on body (breaking into blotches and becoming fainter with increasing size), posterior half of body with small dark or pale spots; dorsal and anal fins with narrow pale distal margins. A female 101 mm SL has a uniform pale brown body with small pale spots on posterior half of body. Adult males have pale rugosities covering the 2 anal-fin spines. Other colors as for juveniles.

COLOR IN LIFE.—Freshly killed specimens taken near Quintero, Chile, were highly variable in color. Body colors ranged from green or reddish brown to golden with small brownish orange or brown spots on posterior half of body and on segmented-ray portion of dorsal fin. Elongate, iridescent pale-green spot located dorsally on pectoral-fin base and another covering bases of ventralmost rays. Orbital cirri iridescent blue. Adult males with pale-green anal-fin spine rugosities. Other colors as in alcohol.

COMPARISONS.—Scartichthys crapulatus is the only member of the genus with small dark-brown spots on the posterior half of the body. It is most similar in meristics and other counts (Table 4) to S. viridis, but is easily distinguished by color pattern (the latter has a uniformly brown body).

DISTRIBUTION.—Scartichthys crapulatus is known only from the coast in the vicinity of Valparaiso, Chile (33°S), and from a power plant trap in the northern Chilean town of Barquito (26°S), where it was collected with specimens of S. gigas (Figure 16). It lives on rocky bottoms and has been collected at depths of 1–15 m.

ETYMOLOGY.—The specific epithet, from the Latin crapulatus (drunk), refers to the purported sleepy or drunken feeling experienced when the flesh of Scartichthys is eaten (Koepcke, 1955:67).

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—20 specimens, 37–116 mm SL.

Holotype: USNM 276344 (female: 110 mm SL), Montemar Biological Station, field number BBC 1155, collected by B.B. Collette and R.H. Gibbs, Jr., 14 Feb. 1966.

Paratypes: ANSP 158678 (4 specimens: 42–64 mm SL), Barquito, Chile, power plant trap, 28 Apr. 1955; BMNH 1850.6.14.20 (1: 67), South America (probably Chile), collected by Mr. Bridges; MNHNC P.6.411 (8: 37–78), El Quisco, Chile, 32°23'S, 71°42′W, 14 Sep. 1952; SIO 87–133 (1: 101), Los Farallones de Quintero, Chile, shoaling rocks ~1 mile offshore, 32°47'S, 71°32′W, 10–45 ft. (3–13.5 m), collected by R. McConnaughey, 7 Aug. 1987; SIO 87–136 (2: 72, 116), Los Farallones de Quintero, Chile, ~1 mile offshore, 15–50 ft. (4.5–15 m), R. Rosenblatt et al., 20 Aug. 1987; SIO 87–140 (3:75–116), Bahía Quintero, Chile, between La Ventana and village of Ventana, collected by R. McConnaughey, 26 Aug. 1987.

Scartichthys crapulatus is a species of combtooth blenny found in the southeast Pacific ocean, and is endemic to Chile. This species reaches a length of 11.6 centimetres (4.6 in) SL.