Wisner and McMillan: Three new Eptatretus species from North American Pacific coast 



793 



Etymology From the Latin "sinus," meaning gulf, 

 by reason of its apparent restriction to tlie midriff area 

 of the Gulf of California, Mexico. 



Description Counts (Tables 2-8) and body propor- 

 tions (Table 1) are given and compared with similar 

 data for the other four species treated here. 



Body robust, deepest at midbody, deeper than wide, 

 increasingly laterally compressed toward tail. Tail 

 spatulate, its depth about half its length, its ventral 

 outline not sloping downward from cloaca. Caudal fin- 

 fold thickened ventrally. thinner around tail, ending 

 dorsaily over cloacal origin. Ventral f infold usually 

 present, low, unpigmented. It is absent on 10% of 363 

 specimens. 



Head at eyespots as deep as wide, the oral surface 

 sloping posteriorly at about 35° from the vertical. Eye- 

 spots prominent, the margins well defined. Barbels 

 short, unpigmented except rarely at bases. Second 

 barbel usually longer than first but occasionally shorter 

 or of equal length. First and second barbels respective- 

 ly 60% and 64% of third barbel. Length of first nasal 

 barbel is given in Table 6 and compared with that of 

 other species treated. 



Head grooves Grooves present before and behind 

 eyespots, eacli side. One to five grooves occur behind 

 eyespots, most lying transversely, but a few lying 

 longitudinally at side of head. One to four grooves lie 

 before eyespots in longitudinal rows. Occasionally no 

 grooves occur before eyespots. 



Color Color reddish-brown, without pale markings or 

 spotting. GA, PCD, and an occasional slime pore have 

 narrow pale margins. 



Length of DM 24%(21-29%) of TL. DM width 14% 

 (12-17%)) of its length, its depth 65%(54-86%) of its 

 width. DM to VA 16%(15-26%) of DM length. VA 

 length 25%i( 17-39%.) of DM length. VA length variable, 

 averaging 66%(22-127%) of distance from DM to VA. 

 Numbers of GP in position relative to DM and VA, 

 Areas L IL IIL are given in Table 7, defined in Figure 

 4, and compared with similar data for the other four 

 species treated here. Afferent duct of last GA, left side, 

 always confluent with PCD. 



Variation in numbers of GA occurs between left and 

 right sides, with higher numbers predominating on the 

 left, 65(15%) vs. 8(2%,), A^ 444 (Table 8). 



Eggs The holotype, 370 mm TL, contains many small 

 eggs, to about 4 mm. The largest egg found (among 

 21 large ones) was 32 x 7.5 mm in a female of 371 mm 

 TL. The most eggs found was 37 (18 x 5 mm) in a 

 female of 420 mm TL. Eggs (28) to 21 mm were found 

 in a female of 372 mm TL, and to 23 mm in one of 335 



mm TL. Apparently, E. sinus matures at a short total 

 length, as a male of 130 mm and a female of 142 mm 

 were noted. These are surprisingly small sizes, for in 

 other species, these total lengths are distinctly juvenile, 

 and the sex determinable only under very high mag- 

 nification, if at all. Encapsulated anchor filaments are 

 visible on eggs of 20 mm length. 



The sex ratio of £". sinus is unbalanced. Of a total 

 424 specimens for which sex was reliably determined, 

 65% are female, 35% male. 



Eptatretus deani 



(Evermann and Goldsborough 1907) 



Synonymy 



Polistotrema deani Evermann and Goldsborough 1907: 

 221-222, 225-226, fig. 1 (original description; com- 

 pared with Polistotrema stoutii; Albatross Station 

 4235, Spacious Bay, Cleveland Peninsula, 130-193 

 fathoms, and Albatross Station 4238, Nose Point, 

 Behm Canal, southeastern Alaska, 229-231 fathoms); 

 Wilimovsky 1954a: 3, and 1954b: 281 (SE Alaska to 

 California), 1958: 18 (compared with P. stoutii; SE 

 Alaska to California); Barham et al. 1967: 780, fig. 

 7 (shown associated with Anoplopoma fimbria. 

 Trieste Dive 105; 1060 m in San Diego Trough) 

 [presumptive]. 



Polistotrema curtiss-jam.esi Townsend and Nichols, 

 1925: 4-5, 18, 20, fig. 1 (original description: com- 

 pared with P. stoutii; south of Monterey to Santa 

 Barbara L: 440-585 fathoms; Albatross Stations 

 5695, 5696, 5697, 5698; type locality Station 5697, 

 585 fathoms). 



Heptatretus deani Regan, 1912: 534-535 (comparisons; 

 synonymy; references; diagnosis; Alaska). 



Bdellostomu deani. Adam and Strahan 1963; 6 (11-12 

 gills; length to 620 mm; Alaska). 



Eptatretus deani. Day and Pearcy 1968: 2668, 2771 

 (listed; about 1 200 meters off Oregon); Bourne and 

 McAllister 1969: 3246-3248, fig. 1 (first British Co- 

 lumbia records, 54°47'N, 130°58'30"W at 90-250 

 fathoms: 48°53'N, 126°40'W at 373 m: description); 

 Kukowski 1972: 7, 24 (Monterey Bay; references); 

 Miller and Lea 1972: 32 (Cedros and Guadalupe Is., 

 Baja California to SE Alaska: length to 20 inches; 

 depth 1560-3500 feet; common in deep water, uni- 

 form purplish black); Fitch 1973; 815 (off Eureka. 

 California, 565-585 m); Hart 1973: 10, 16-18, fig. 1 

 (first description for Canada; comparisons in key; 

 description; geographical and bathymetric distribu- 

 tions; references); Gates and Frey 1974: 60 (ver- 

 nacular, California): Smith and Hessler 1974; 72-73 

 (14 miles off San Diego; depth 1230 m; respiration 

 rate measured in situ; a dominant species in San 

 Diego Trough); Jespersen 1975: 189-190, 195, 197, 



