New records and range extension of the Portuguese dogfish in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

New records and range extension of the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, with comments on its morphology

Federico Mas, Rodrigo Forselledo, Andrés Domingo, Oscar Pin, Pablo Troncoso, Eugenia Errico, Alejandro Marquez, Sho Tanaka, Simon Weigmann

ABSTRACT:

The Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis is a wide‐ranging deep‐water shark and a common by‐catch component of the catches of several mid to deep‐water fisheries. In the present study, two new records from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean are reported based on specimens caught by bottom‐longline fishing vessels operating in the Argentinean‐Uruguayan Common Fishing Zone. Species identification based on morphology and detailed morphometrics, as well as molecular data are presented for one of the specimens. The distribution of the species over the Southwestern Atlantic is discussed on the basis of available bibliography and a thorough revision of museum collections. The records here presented expands the species’ previously acknowledged distribution southwards, from around 21° S to at least 38° S, suggesting it occurs continuously along the shelf break of Eastern South America. However, given the limited access to specimens of deep‐water sharks in the region, the abundance and real extent of C. coelolepis distribution in the Southwestern Atlantic as well as its interaction with deep‐water fisheries remain to be fully assessed.

Journal of Fish Biology, DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14246

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