On the presence of the Eastern Pacific Black Ghostshark Hydrolagus melanophasma (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeridae) in northern Chile, with notes on its distribution in the Eastern Pacific

Abstract

The Eastern Pacific Black Ghostshark Hydrolagus melanophasma (James et al. Zootaxa 2218:59–68, 2009) is a recently described deep water holocephalan found along the Eastern Pacific and so far known from a few records. Here we present new records for this species based on specimens collected as bycatch in the Chilean Seabass, Dissostichus eleginoides Smith, 1898 fishery at a depth of 1800 m off Taltal (25°S), northern Chile. This is the first record of Hydrolagus melanophasma in northern Chile, and its second occurrence in the southeastern Pacific, filling a gap in the distribution of the species and confirming its presence in the southeastern Pacific. We also report the first record of a Gyrocotyle species as parasite in this species.