Specimens of the Pacific longnose chimaera Harriotta raleighana Goode & Bean 1895 from the Mexican Pacific in scientific collections of Mexico and the world

Abstract

Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish that live in waters more than 200 m deep. There are two species in the Rhinochimaeridae family, where only one, Harriotta raleighana, occurs in Mexican waters. It is considered a rare species for the country because of the number of observations and specimens collected in the Mexican Pacific, from Baja California to Colima, starting more than 100 years ago. This work integrates for the first time the published and unpublished information of this species for this region. Only seven specimens have been collected; they are deposited in different scientific collections of Mexico and the USA. Interestingly, none of these specimens were collected during surveys since all have been collected incidentally by fishermen. There is currently one specimen missing from a collection, a relevant issue due to its rareness. Samples must be deposited and preserved adequately for further studies about this rare and other deep-sea species, that improves the knowledge of the Mexican marine diversity.