New Japanese Record of the Rare Cusk Eel Benthocometes australiensis (Actinopterygii: Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae), a First Record of the Species from the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract

A specimen (114.4 mm SL) of the rare ophidiid species, Benthocometes australiensis Nielsen, 2010, was collected from a deep-sea water intake at a depth of 320 m off Cape Muroto, Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku Island, Japan. The species is previously only known from the holotype trawled off northwestern Australia. Thus, the present specimen is the first record from the Northern Hemisphere and the second record of the species. New Japanese names “Suisei-ashiro-zoku” and “Muroto-suisei-ashiro” are proposed for Benthocometes and B. australiensis respectively.