First Record of the Grenadier Coelorinchus sheni (Actinopterygii: Gadiformes: Macrouridae) from Japan

Abstract

The rarely caught grenadier, Coelorinchus sheni Chiou, Shao and Iwamoto, 2004, is newly recorded from Japanese waters, based on a single specimen (196 mm in head length, 692+ mm in total length) collected from the East China Sea off the north-west coast of Ie-jima island, Okinawa, at a depth of 650 m. It belongs to the C. tokiensis group, and readily differs from other Japanese congeners in having a series of dark saddles on the body, a fully-scaled underside of the head, and a short light organ anterior to the anus (its anterior tip falling far short of a line connecting the inner pelvic-fin bases), and in lacking a complete bony support of the lateral nasal ridge. The morphology of the Japanese specimen is fully described, with the first report of the species’ fresh coloration. Localities of type specimens of C. sheni are also emended. Coelorinchus sheni was previously known only from Taiwan; thus the Japanese specimen represents the first record of the species from outside Taiwanese waters and the northernmost record of the species.