28 
Fishery Bulletin 96(1 ), 1998 
mens typically with single longitudinal series of dark, 
internal spots on blind side of body at proximal ends 
of dorsal- and anal-fin pterygiophores. Peritoneum 
dark black, showing through abdominal wall on both 
sides, especially prominent in lightly pigmented and 
smaller specimens. 
Fin rays of dorsal and anal fins uniformly light 
brown along length of fins with little, if any, pigment 
on fin membranes and without obvious pigmented 
blotches or spots. Proximal one-third of caudal fin 
with diffuse brown pigment similar to that on body; 
distal portion of caudal-fin rays usually unpigmented. 
Goode and Bean (1883) described the holotype as 
grayish, everywhere mottled with brown. Ginsburg 
(1951) described three specimens he examined as 
partly faded and having almost uniformly reddish 
or yellowish-brown coloration. 
Size and sexual maturity {Fig. 7CJ Symphurus rtebu- 
losus is a diminutive species that attains a maximum 
size of ca. 87 mm. Ten males (64.3-86.2 mm), 12 fe- 
males (54.9-83.8 mm), and two immature fish (36.4- 
45.0 mm) of indeterminate sex were examined for 
life history information. No size differences between 
sexes were apparent. Sexual maturity, based on fe- 
males, occurs at ca. 60-65 mm (Fig. 7C). Females 
63.8-83.8 mm were gravid; two others (54.9 and 68.1 
mm) had elongate ovaries without evidence of ripen- 
ing ova. Of 10 specimens taken in a single trawl (now 
divided between UNC 4951 and USNM 285758), six 
were gravid females (69.5-83.8 mm) and four were 
adult males (78.3-86.2 mm), indicating that adults 
of both sexes occupy similar habitats. 
Gravid females were present in collections from 
lat. 40°N to 28°N and from 239 to 800 m depth, indi- 
cating spawning probably occurs throughout the en- 
tire geographic and bathymetric ranges of the spe- 
cies. The two smallest specimens examined (36.4 and 
45.0 mm) were taken near the northern end of the 
geographic range (39°40'N and 39°55’N, respectively). 
The only other specimen (UMO 311.8; 76.7 mm) from 
this region (at 40°48'N) is a gravid female. Capture 
of both juveniles and adults at the north of the range 
indicates that this region has an adult population of 
S. nebulosus and is likely not populated only by lar- 
vae that have been transported by the Gulf Stream 
from more southern regions, as reported for S. minor 
(Markle et al., 1980) and other Symphurus species 
(Evseenko, 1982; Scott and Scott, 1988). 
Geographic distribution fFig. 1 1 1 Western North 
Atlantic in outer continental shelf and upper conti- 
nental slope deep waters from the region just south 
of Long Island, New York (40°48'N), to the Blake Pla- 
teau off Fort Lauderdale, Florida (26°28'N). 
Figure 1 1 
Geographic distribution of Symphurus nebulosus based on mate- 
rial examined (discussion of geographic distribution appears in 
species account). 
Bathymetric distribution This species has rarely 
been collected (only 27 specimens located). Specimens 
were captured on soft mud substrates at depths rang- 
ing from 239 (USNM 291326, two individuals) to 810 
m (UMML 20746, two specimens); most between 400- 
600 m. Six of 27 specimens were taken deeper than 
530 m (Table 10). Because of its rarity in collections, 
little is known about the biology of S. nebulosus. Most 
captures (8/12) were of single specimens. The larg- 
est collection of 10 specimens occurred east of Cape 
Fear, North Carolina, at 495 m. Whether rarity in 
collections reflects natural low abundance or diffi- 
culties in sampling such relatively small fishes at 
depths where this species occurs is unknown. 
Remarks Historically, comparisons of S. nebulosus 
have been made with S. ligulatus (Chabanaud, 1952; 
Munroe, 1987, 1990), a deepwater species of the 
Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic, 
which, as first noted by Chabanaud (1952) in a brief 
footnote, has meristic features similar to those of S. 
nebulosus. On the basis of similarities in meristic 
and morphological features (Munroe 1987, 1990), 
shared osteological characters (Munroe, unpubl. 
data), and similarities in pigmentation, it is hypoth- 
esized that S. nebulosus and S. ligulatus represent a 
closely related species pair with distributions in 
bathyal depths of temperate waters on opposite sides 
of the northern Atlantic. Both belong to a larger spe- 
cies group characterized by several features includ- 
ing a 1-2-2 ID pattern (Munroe, 1992). Members of 
this group occur primarily at bathyal depths through- 
out the Indo-Pacific Ocean. 
