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Issue: Vol. 4226 No. 4: 31 Jan. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-01-30
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4226.4.4
Page range: 509–520
Abstract views: 148
PDF downloaded: 3

Hydrolagus erithacus sp. nov. (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), a new species of chimaerid from the southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian oceans 

Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, California 95039, USA.
Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, California 95039, USA Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Private Bag 1015, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa Research Associate, Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA
Hollings Marine Laboratory, Medical University of South Carolina, 331 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29412, USA
Pisces Chimaera ghost shark taxonomy NADH2 gene

Abstract

A new species of chimaerid, Hydrolagus erithacus sp. nov., is described from nine specimens collected from the southeast Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans from depths of 470–1,000 meters. This species is distinguished from all other Hydrolagus species based on the following characteristics: head bulky, relatively large, followed by stocky body; head and body height from about pectoral fin origin to pelvic fin origin similar, then tapering rapidly to filamentous tail; first dorsal fin spine height about equal to, or slightly less than first dorsal fin apex height; second dorsal fin up to 81% of total body length and uniform in height; trifurcate claspers forked for approximately 20% of total length; robust frontal tenaculum nearly uniform in width, prepelvic tenaculae with five to seven medial spines, and a uniform black coloration with robust, non-deciduous skin. Comparison of mitochondrial NADH2 gene sequences with other morphologically similar Hydrolagus species suggests that H. erithacus is a distinct species.

 

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