Milyeringa justitia Larson & Foster, 2013
Milyeringa justitia
photo by Larson et al, 2013

Family:  Milyeringidae (Blind cave gudgeons)
Max. size:  2.3 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; freshwater
Distribution:  Oceania: restricted to subterranean aquifers accessed by wells sunk on Barrow Island, Western Australia.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 6-6; Anal soft rays: 6-7; Vertebrae: 22-22. First dorsal fin absent (remnant of single pterygiophore present in CT-scanned specimen), 6 segmented second dorsal fin rays; 6-7 segmented anal fin rays; pelvic fin rays I,3; 13-15 caudal fin rays; caudal and pectoral fin rays all unbranched; an almost naked body with greatly reduced scalation (single row of few cycloid scales present), head short with reduced numbers of rows of sensory papillae on the head and body; vertebrae 7-9+13-15 (22 in total), one pre-anal pterygiophore, one epural, last haemal spine broad, split, with sheet of bone joining forks (Ref. 93018).
Biology: 
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR); Date assessed: 23 January 2019 (B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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