Taractichthys longipinnis (Lowe, 1843)

González-Lorenzo, Gustavo, González-Jiménez, José F., Brito, Alberto & González, José A., 2013, The family Bramidae (Perciformes) from the Canary Islands (Northeastern Atlantic Ocean), with three new records, Cybium 37 (4), pp. 295-303 : 299-300

Taractichthys longipinnis (Lowe, 1843)

Material examined. - 2 spms, TFMC-VP / 1049, 727 mm

TL, 561 mm SL, Arguineguín, SW Gran Canaria, 27°43’N 15°48’W, 5 Mar. 2002, SLL; TFMC-VP/1048 , 1 spm, 643 mm TL, 516 mm SL, Arguineguín, SW Gran Canaria, 27°41’N 15°48’W 24 Jan. 2004, HL. Both voucher specimens were collected in the framework of the FishTrace project .

Additional material. - 2 spms, 704-742 mm TL, 536- 557 mm SL, both from same locality, data and project of the above first voucher, SLL; 1 spm, 850 mm TL, 680 mm SL, Arguineguín, SW Gran Canaria, 27°43’N 15°48’W, 4 Jun. 2004, SLL; 2 spms, 630-835 mm TL, El Hierro, 530-580 m, cruise EMBELHIERRO-0608, Jun. 2008; 3 spms, 640, 780

and 800 mm TL, El Hierro, 450-600 m, cruise EMBELHI-ERRO-0308, Mar. 2008. All specimens from El Hierro were caught on HL for alfonsinos Beryx spp.

Remarks. - An oceanic epipelagic (at night time) and mesopelagic Atlantic species distributed in temperate to tropical waters (up to 10°C) between 47°N and 17°N, from surface to about 500 m of depth (MacMillan et al., 2011), usually at 42-200 m ( Carvalho-Filho et al., 2009; Froese and Pauly, 2013). In the Eastern Atlantic Ocean it is known from Iceland and Norway southward to off Pointe Noire, Gulf of Guinea and Namibia, including the Macaronesian archipelagos; questionably reaching False Bay, South Africa ( Smith, 2003); absent from the Mediterranean (e.g. Mead, 1972; Bañón et al., 2010; Froese and Pauly, 2013). It is a highly migratory species, often solitary but occasionally found in small schools close to shore ( Carvalho-Filho et al., 2009).

According to Smith (2003), all records of this species for the Indian and Pacific Oceans ( Paulin, 1981; Thompson and Russell, 1996; Last and Moteki, 2001; Hatooka, 2002; Thompson, 2002) are based on misidentifications of Taractichthys steindachneri (Döderlein, 1883) .

The first record of this species from the Canary Islands is due to Brito (1991). The present material was caught with handlines 50-100 m above the seafloor in 600 m of depth ( González-Lorenzo et al., 2010), confirming its habitat in both the epi- and mesopelagic communities. Off the Canaries, it is seasonally common when approaching the islands during its migration in autumn and winter, together with B. brama . The species inhabits oceanic waters, mainly in midwater on the insular slopes, ascending towards the surface during night-time. It usually forms schools ( Franquet and Brito, 1995) and it is caught with handlines, vertical longlines and drifting surface longlines (at night). In the Canary Islands waters, T. longipinnis is caught sporadically and seems to be less abundant than B. brama . Most probably, the catches of this species will grow with the increasing use of drifting surface longlines ( Franquet and Brito, 1995).