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Fishery Bulletin 108(3) 
in other studies) and South Carolina (Goode and Bean, 
1895; Wenner et ah, 1979a; 1979c; 1979d; 1980) were 
overlooked in nearly all subsequent contemporary litera- 
ture, and misinformation regarding the northern limits 
of distribution for C. cornutus was perpetuated. For 
example, Hoese and Moore (1977) reported the distribu- 
tion of C. cornutus as the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, 
and from Georgia throughout the Caribbean to Brazil, 
later (Hoese and Moore, 1998) adding the Bahamas to 
this distribution. Tucker (1982: Table 1) also listed the 
geographic range for adults as Georgia to Brazil (al- 
though he illustrated in a map that larvae were known 
from areas north of Georgia at about Cape Fear, NC). 
Robins and Ray (1986) and Boschung (1992) repeated 
the same distributional information for the northern 
point of the geographic range (Georgia) for C. cornutus 
as that appearing in Gutherz (1967). Cervigon (1996) 
listed the geographic distribution as the eastern United 
States, Bahamas, and northern Gulf of Mexico to Bra- 
zil. Castro-Aguirre et al. (1999) tentatively listed the 
species from the Veracruz, Mexico, region on the basis 
of a study by Lozano-Vilano et al. (1993), and reported 
the geographic distribution of the species from Georgia, 
Florida, and Gulf of Mexico to Brazil, including the 
Bahamas and Antilles. Figueiredo and Menezes (2000; 
2003) also listed the northern limit of the geographic 
range of C. cornutus as Georgia, as did Saavedra-Diaz 
et al. (2000). Munroe (2003) reported the distribution 
as the continental shelf off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 
of the United States from North Carolina to Texas, 
which distribution is essentially the same as that given 
in McEachran and Fechhelm (2005). Historical captures 
of C. cornutus from off New Jersey were also overlooked 
(J. A. Moore and K. E. Hartel, personal commun. 1 ) by 
Moore et al. (2003) and Hartel et al. (2008) in check- 
lists of the deepwater (>200 m) resident fishes from the 
Mid-Atlantic Bight area south of New England. 
Among contemporary literature, only Fahay (2007) 
has provided a more accurate assessment of the north- 
ernmost occurrences of C. cornutus. Although he notes 
that the geographic range usually reported in the lit- 
erature is from Georgia to Brazil, including the Gulf of 
Mexico and Caribbean Sea, he also has observed that 
adults are fairly common as far north as Cape Hatteras 
and Hudson Canyon and that larvae are collected as 
far north as Georges Bank. A recent capture of one 
specimen of C. cornutus from off New York is reported 
by Steves et al. (1999: their Table 3) and a photograph 
provided by M. Fahay (personal commun. 2 ) indicates 
that at least five other specimens were taken recently 
on the continental shelf off New Jersey. 
1 Moore, Jon A., and Karsten E. Hartel. 2008. Honors Col- 
lege, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33458 and 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univ., 26 Oxford 
Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. 
2 Fahay, Michael. 2006. (Retired.) James J. Howard Marine 
Sciences Laboratory at Sandy Hook, Northeast Fisheries 
Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 74 Magruder Road, 
Highlands, NJ 07732. 
Bathymetric distribution 
Overall, the 578 specimens for which information on 
depth of capture was available were captured at depths 
ranging from 68 to 287 m (Appendix 1). The majority 
of specimens (496 of 578 = 85%) were taken between 
101-200 m (Fig. 4A). Only 31 (5.3%) C. cornutus in this 
study were taken shallower than 100 m, and only 61 
(10.5%) specimens were collected deeper than 200 m 
(Fig. 4A). 
Specimens examined in this study were collected 
within the bathymetric range generally reported for 
this species; however, our specimens did not represent 
the depth extremes reported for this species. This spe- 
cies is usually reported from outer shelf depths where 
these fishes are associated with soft bottoms, including 
sand-mud substrata (Staiger, 1970; McEachran and 
Fechhelm, 2005; Fahay, 2007). For example, Goode 
and Bean (1895) reported that their specimens were 
taken between about 83 and 285 m; however, their 
study included both C. cornutus and C. gymnorhinus. 
The depth range for specimens of C. cornutus in Goode 
and Bean is actually 174-285 m. Off the Dry Tortugas, 
Longley and Hildebrand (1941) reported the distribution 
of C. cornutus as benthic habitats in the Gulf Stream 
at depths of about 81 to somewhat less than 185 m, 
and that abundance was highest near 120 m. Staiger 
(1970) reported a depth range for the species in the 
Florida Straits region from 83 to 260 m. Gutherz (1967) 
listed the depth range for C. cornutus throughout its 
geographic range as 27-366 m and that captures gener- 
ally exceeded 137 m; this range was repeated in several 
publications (Tucker, 1982; McEachran and Fechhelm, 
2005; and Fahay, 2007). Topp and Hoff (1972) reported 
that off West Florida this species is known from the 
outer shelf or shelf edge; those in the Gulf of Mexico 
can be found at depths exceeding 350 m (5 out of 38 of 
their specimens were collected at these depths), and in 
the Caribbean it is usually found deeper than 137 m. 
Boschung (1992) listed the depth range for C. cornutus 
off Alabama as 24-172 m. Robins and Ray (1986) indi- 
cated a depth range of 30-400 m, usually deeper than 
140 m for the species. Cervigon (1996) reported that 
this species inhabits depths between 30 and 400 m, 
but generally less than 300 m. Hoese and Moore (1977; 
1998) considered this to be a deepwater species ranging 
from about 28-368 m, generally >138 m. Saavedra- 
Diaz et al. (2000) reported a depth range of 24-400 m. 
Munroe (2003) and Lyczkowski- Shultz and Bond (2006) 
reported this species at depths of 20-370 m, but gener- 
ally deeper than 130 m. Off southern Brazil, Figueiredo 
and Menezes (2000) noted that C. cornutus is captured 
in fisheries conducted at depths of 20-192 m, and a 
maximum depth record of 365 m has been documented 
for this species in this region. 
Size 
Our specimens ranged in size from 17.2 to 81.3 mm SL 
(Fig. 5A). Overall, approximately 48% (272 of 566) of 
