Nota Científica

Two records of Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) off southern Chile (Pisces: Stephanoberyciformes: Stephanoberycidae)

Dos registros de Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) en el sur de Chile (Pisces: Stephanoberyciformes: Stephanoberycidae)

Richard F. Feeney

Section of Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA

Dirección para correspondencia

ABSTRACT. Two specimens were collected by the USNS Eltanin west of Chiloé Island in 1962 and off Tierra del Fuego in 1963 and deposited in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County identified only as stephanoberycids. They represent the first reported records of Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) from Chile and the southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Key words: Stephanoberycidae, distribution, southeastern Pacific, Chile.

RESUMEN. Dos especímenes colectados por el USNN Eltanin, uno al oeste de la isla de Chiloé en 1962 y otro frente a Tierra del Fuego en 1963, fueron depositados en el Museo de la Historia Natural del Condado de Los Ángeles, identificados solamente como stephanoberycids. Estos especímenes constituyen los primeros registros de Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) en Chile y en el Pacífico suroriental.

Palabras clave: Stephanoberycidae, distribución, Pacífico suroriental, Chile.

Acanthochaenus luetkenii is a deepwater stephanoberycoid described from specimens collected in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean (Jordan & Evermann, 1896; Myers, 1936; Grey, 1956; Ebeling & Weed, 1973). Subsequently, adults have been collected from the Canary Islands and the Azores (Koefoed, 1927; Grey, 1956), the western Indian Ocean (Ebeling & Weed, 1973), and the eastern Indian Ocean (Kotlyar, 1983). Forty-nine specimens were collected by the R/V Vityaz in the western Indian Ocean (Kotlyar & Andrianov, 1993). Eleven larvae were collected in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (38°48'S, 175°54'W), and a juvenile was collected in the south Atlantic (Kotlyar & Evseyenko, 1989; Kotlyar, 2004).

Measurements and meristics follow Hubbs and Lagler (1958); institutional abbreviations follow Leviton et al. (1985). Specimens were x-rayed with a Hewlett-Packard 43807N.

Two specimens identified as "Stephanoberycidae" were collected by the USNS Eltanin off Chile. The first specimen (LACM 10189-4, 97 mm, Fig. 1) was collected 110 km west of Chiloé Island at Eltanin sta. 334 (42°57'S, 75°33'W to 43°08'S, 75°48'W) at 3,651 m with a 10 ft Blake Trawl on 27 November 1962. The second specimen (LACM 10669-1, 106 mm, Fig. 2) was trawled about 550 km west of Tierra del Fuego at Eltanin sta. 876 (55°22'S, 78°21'W to 55°22'S, 78°08'W), 4209-4328 m, 5' Blake Trawl, 29 November 1963.

Figure 1. Acanthochaenus luetkenii (LACM 10189-4) collected west of Chiloé Island, Chile. Figura 1. Acanthochaenus luetkenii (LACM 10189-4) recolectado al oeste de la isla de Chiloé, Chile.

The specimens are re-identified as Acanthochaenus luetkenii (Gill, 1884) and compared to A. luetkenii from other localities including: AMNH 73931 (1: 105 mm female, ripe), R/V Iselin (37°01.6'N, 74°22.5'W), 15 June 1973; LACM 44786-2 (6: 79-93.5 mm), R/V Vityaz sta. 2779 (30°30.0'S, 46°53.0'E to 30°25.0'S, 47°00.0'E), 2580-2680 m, 26 December 1988; MCZ 64947 (1: 132.5 mm) Chain? cr.124, sta. 424fi (ca. 39°N, 70°W); USNM 307916 (3 of 5: 81-92 mm SL), R/V Vityaz 17 Coll. (30°30'S, 46°53'E to 30°25'S, 47°00'E), 2580-2680 m, 26 December 1988.

Morphometrics and meristics are given in Table 1. The snout, represented by a bony ridge of spines, protrudes anterior of the premaxillaries. Bony ridges of delicate spines cover the dorsoanterior cranium and encircle the orbit. Two ridges of spines line the edge of the preopercle. Fine comblike spines line the ventral edges of the dentary and angular.

Scales, each with 1-4 erect spines, cover the body and part of the preopercle. Each specimen appears to have a small spine at the origin of the dorsal fin. Dorsal pterygiophores number eleven. Two predorsal bones are visible on radiographs.

Color in alcohol pale except for darker areas on the head, opercular fiap and peritoneal membrane. Both specimens appear to be female with developing oocytes present in the ovaries.

The SE Pacific Acanthochaenus luetkenii specimens are similar in morphometrics and meristics to the comparative specimens and to published accounts of specimens (Ebeling & Weed, 1973; Myers, 1936; Kotlyar, 1983, 1990; Schwartz, 1990) except for a higher number of dorsal rays (11-12 vs 10-11 in comparative material), higher number of dorsal pterygiophores (11 vs 10 in Atlantic specimens), and higher snout to pelvic lengths (57.5-60.8 vs 53.8-56.2% SL). A spine is present at the dorsal origin (also present in comparative material). Kotlyar & Andrianov (1993) also noticed a dorsal spine in some specimens. Five out of 11 comparative specimens (LACM 447862, MCZ 64947) also appear to have the spine, sometimes with a pterygiophore supporting it. The spines are hard with no segments. Anal spines, when present, do sometimes have segmentation.

Despite variation the two specimens appear to be A. luetkenii. The species has a circumglobal distribution. Planktonic larval stages (Kotlyar & Evseyenko, 1989) probably facilitate this distribution. Major ocean areas where A. luetkenii have not been found to date are the North Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank the following for their generous assistance: C. Baldwin, N. Camacho, D. Cohen, L. Feeney, N. Feinberg, K. Hartel, S. Jewett, A. Kotlyar, R. Lavenberg, D. Oda, C. Paulin, J. Paxton, J. Seigel, H. Schwartz, D. Striley and C. Tracker.

REFERENCES

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Grey, M. 1956. The distribution of fishes found below a depth of 2000 meters. Fieldiana, Zool., 36(2): 75-337.         [ Links ]

Hubbs, C.L. & K.F. Lagler. 1958. Fishes of the Great Lakes region. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 213 pp.         [ Links ]

Jordan, D.S. & B.W. Evermann. 1896. The fishes of North and Middle America. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 47(1): 835-836.         [ Links ]

Koefoed, E. 1927. Fishes from the sea-bottom. Rep. Scient. Results Michael Sars N. Atlant. Deep-Sea Exped. 1910, 4(1): 1-148.         [ Links ]

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Kotlyar, A.N. 2004. Family Stephanoberycidae Gill 1884-pricklefishes. Calif. Acad. Sci. Annotated Checklists of Fishes Nº 27: 3 pp.         [ Links ]

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Leviton, A.E., R.H. Gibbs, Jr., E. Heal & C.E. Dawson. 1985. Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia, 1985(3): 802-832.         [ Links ]

Myers, G.S. 1936. A note on the stephanoberycid fishes. Copeia, 1936(2): 118.         [ Links ]

Schwartz, F.J. 1990. Acanthochaenus lutkenii from off North Carolina with additional meristic and morphometric comparisons for western Atlantic specimens. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 106(2): 51-55.         [ Links ]

Recibido: 22 junio 2006; Aceptado 19 octubre 2006

Corresponding author: Richard Feeney (rfeeney@nhm.org)