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Issue: Vol. 4312 No. 1: 28 Aug. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-08-28
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4312.1.1
Page range: 1–37
Abstract views: 117
PDF downloaded: 5

New species of Chimaera (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae) from the Southwestern Indian Ocean

Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Rd, CA, 95039, USA.
Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Rd, CA, 95039, USA. Research Associate, Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA. 94118, USA Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Private Bag 1015, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
Hollings Marine Lab, Medical University of South Carolina, 331 Fort Johnson Rd., Charleston, South Carolina 29412
Pisces Chimaeridae deep-sea Madagascar Ridge Walters Shoal color variation ontogeny

Abstract

Three new species of Chimaera are described from the Southwestern Indian Ocean. Chimaera willwatchi sp. nov. is distinguished by its large body, blocky head with square snout, well-defined suborbital ridges, and a strong dorsal spine exceeding first dorsal apex; body brown-purple in color, slight iridescent sheen, heavily mottled around mouth and ventral surface, posterior edge of pelvic fins and first dorsal fin with prominent white margin, and anterior edge of second dorsal fin with white margin. Chimaera didierae sp. nov. can be distinguished by its light tan body color, slender body, short trunk, long tail, relatively robust spine, very small unpaired fins, and extremely deciduous skin. Chimaera buccanigella sp. nov. is distinguished by its light tan body color, stocky body, short trunk, tapering rapidly into a long tail, long, very straight spine, skin not deciduous. The three Chimaera species were collected from seamounts of Walters Shoal, the Madagascar Ridge, and the Southwestern Indian Ridge in an area within 34o30’S–44o05’E and 39o30’S–58o15’E. This is the first record of the genus in the Southwestern Indian Ocean, and brings the global total to 19 species. The new species presented here are distinguishable from their congeners by a combination of coloration, morphology, meristic, and structure of the mitochondrial NADH2 gene.

 

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