538 



Fishery Bulletin 93(3). 1995 



ning around tail and dorsally; prominent dorsal ridge 

 extending anteriorly as a finfold to 4.3 times tail 

 length in holotype and 3.2 times in paratype; body 

 light pinkish-brown, the original label states "life- 

 long color pink"; VFF and CFF pale; GA and slime 

 pores with narrow pale margins; holotype with 9 well- 

 developed eggs to 19x5 mm; paratype with 8 similar 

 eggs to 18x6 mm; eggs widely and irregularly spaced; 

 only a few paired. 



Etymology The name dorsum, from Latin mean- 

 ing "ridge," refers to the far forward extension of the 

 CFF dorsally as a ridge to three or four times length 

 of tail. 



Distribution Southwestern Atlantic Ocean between 

 112 and 650 m (Fig. 3). 



Discussion Although the two specimens are slightly 

 wrinkled and hardened, the integuments cannot be 

 stretched laterally and down far enough to eliminate 

 the dorsal ridges. In addition, a suture-like line par- 

 allels the base of these ridges, ending at the point 

 where downward stretching fails to eliminate them. 

 This feature is not previously reported in species of 

 Myxine; in all others, CFF extends dorsally little more 

 than half a tail length forward of a vertical from cloa- 

 cal origin. 



Myxine knappi new species 



Holotype SIO90-144, 565-mm female, taken at 

 49°16'S, 57°02'W, 24 March 1965, 630-650 m. 



Paratypes SIO90-144, 2 (510,560 mm TL) taken 

 with the holotype. 



Diagnosis A 2-cusp multicusp on both the anterior 

 and posterior sets of cusps; six gill pouches each side; 

 tail slime pores 11-14; rostrum broadly rounded; VFF 

 nearly vestigial; color pinkish-blue, head and barbels 

 slightly paler than body; total slime pores 116-123. 



Description Counts and proportions are given in 

 Tables 1-7. Body slender, slightly deeper than wide; 

 tail length about 13% of TL, its depth about 33% of 

 its length; VFF low and variably developed; in the 

 holotype it is 2.5 to 3.5 mm high; in a paratype (510 

 mm TL) it is less than 1.0 mm high to about 60 mm 

 anterior to cloaca where it increases to 3.0 mm high, 

 continuing to cloaca; CFF prominent around tail, 

 thickened ventrally; in the 510 mm paratype CFF 

 extends forward of a vertical from cloacal origin about 

 half the tail length; rostrum broadly rounded at tip; 

 cusps robust, bluntly pointed, bases of multicusps 



slightly bulbous; 1-2 slime pores over GA; body color 

 pinkish to bluish, one paratype more pink than blue; 

 head pale to about over mouth; barbels pale; VFF 

 entirely pale; CFF color of body, without pale mar- 

 gin; GA and slime pores with narrow pale margins; 

 a label in the package containing the bluish speci- 

 men states "life-long color blue." The pinkish speci- 

 men was packaged separately with label stating "life- 

 long color pink"; holotype with 15 large eggs to 26x7 

 mm; pink paratype with 12 eggs as large as 18x6 

 mm. 



Etymology We name this species for Leslie W. 

 Knapp, Director, Department of Fishes, Smithsonian 

 Sorting Center, primarily for supplying us with study 

 material. 



Discussion This species and M. dorsum appear to 

 be closely related, differing primarily in far forward 

 extension of CFF in M. dorsum; this feature is weakly 

 expressed in a paratype of M. knappi by an exten- 

 sion of about half the tail length. 



Distribution Known only from near the Falkland 

 Islands (Fig. 3). 



Comments A discrepancy exists in recorded dates 

 of capture. The "life-long pink" specimen has a label 

 stating the date of capture as "March 24, 1935"; the 

 label with the two "life-long blue" specimens (pack- 

 aged separately) states "March 24, 1965." All other 

 data, handwriting, and label paper are identical; 

 therefore we assume the date of 1935 to be in error 

 because we know of no Russian research vessel col- 

 lecting near the Falkland Islands in 1935. Because 

 of the poor condition of one of the paratypes, it was 

 not possible to obtain accurate body measurements 

 or slime pore counts; however, we were able to count 

 the cusps. 



Myxine australis .Jenyns, 1 842 



Myxine australis Jenyns, 1842:159 (description: "col- 

 ored like an earthworm but more leaden, beneath 

 yellowish, head purplish; Tierra del Fuego"). 



Synonymy Myxine acutifrons Garman, 1899:347 

 (from original description: rostrum acute, resembling 

 a barbel; color dark brown, lighter ventrally; ante- 

 rior two teeth of each series confluent to bases). 



Diagnosis 2-cusp multicusp on both anterior and 

 posterior sets of cusps; six gill pouches each side; head 

 pointed, rostrum variably acute to rounded at tip; 

 VFF low, averaging less than 2 mm; CFF narrow; a 



