New Geographical Record of Chaunax penicillatus McCulloch, 1915 (Chaunacoidei: Chaunacidae) from the Eastern Indian Ocean

Abstract

This paper discusses the first occurrence of Chaunax penicillatus McCulloch, 1915 from Andaman waters of India, Eastern Indian Ocean. It is the only member in the Chaunax pictus group occurring outside the Atlantic Ocean, and is characterized by the deep black, concave illicial trough, very short illicium and numerous stout cirri on esca. Three specimens were collected from Andaman coast of India at a depth ranging from 321 m to 337 m by the fishery surveys of onboard Sagar Sampada employing bottom trawls. Along with the diagnostic characters, previous distributional records are also provided.