First Records of a Hydrolagus Species (Holocephali: Chimaeridae) from Reunion Island and Mayotte (Southwestern Indian Ocean)

Two specimens of large blackish chimaeras of the genus Hydrolagus were caught, one off Reunion Island and the other off Mayotte in the southwestern Indian Ocean. The specimens, an adult male of 710 mm BDL and a female of 870 m BDL, are described, compared to similar species (i.e., having a large size, over 110 cm TL, dark blackish colour, and rather long conical snout), and tentatively identified to the small-eyed rabbitfish Hydrolagus affinis, pending a taxonomic revision of the large blackish chimaeras is completed.

Automated summary

This article describes two specimens of large blackish chimaeras of the genus Hydrolagus caught in the southwestern Indian Ocean and compares them to similar species. It tentatively identifies them as the small-eyed rabbitfish Hydrolagus affinis, pending a taxonomic revision.