Alopiidae

Biscoito, Manuel, Ribeiro, Cláudia & Freitas, Mafalda, 2018, Annotated checklist of the fishes of the archipelago of Madeira (NE Atlantic): I-Chondrichthyes, Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 459-494 : 462-463

Family Alopiidae

* ▲ Alopias superciliosus Lowe, 1841 — Peixe-rato-de-natura; Bigeye thresher

Lowe 1841: 39 (as Alopecias superciliosus )

Springer 1973a: 17 | Cadenat & Blache 1981: 145–149 | Compagno 1984a: 231–232 | Quéro 1984a: 91 | Sanches 1986: 60 | Lloris et al. 1991: 220 | Wirtz et al. 2008: 3 | Carneiro et al. 2014: 10.

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Azores ( Santos et al. 1997; Arruda 1997; Porteiro et al. 2010), Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003) and Cape Verde ( Cadenat & Blache 1981).

Remarks. Madeira is the type locality, but the holotype is unknown. There is one formalin preserved specimen in MMF collection, dated from 2012 (MMF 42302), caught on the black scabbard fish longline. Although this species has economic importance in many regions of the world ( Nieto et al. 2015), in Madeira it is not used for consumption ( Nunes 1953). In 1996 during the project ARQMAD-02-P96 of the DSI, one specimen of this species was caught SW of Porto Moniz, Madeira, while hauling a bottom longline at 800-900 m depth.

* Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) —Peixe-rato, Thresher

Lowe 1838: 194 (as Carcharias vulpes )

Lowe 1852: 253 | Belloc 1934: 140 | Nobre 1935: 438–439 (as Alopias vulpes )

Noronha & Sarmento 1934: 122 and 135 (as Alopecias vulpes )

Fowler 1936: 43 | Maul 1948: 138 | Albuquerque 1954 –56: 85 | Springer 1973a: 17 | Cadenat & Blache 1981: 143–144 | Sanches 1986: 59 | Carneiro et al. 2014: 10.

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Azores ( Santos et al. 1997; Arruda 1997; Porteiro et al. 2010) and Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003).

Remarks. one mounted specimen in the MMF exhibition. Maul (1948) refers as frequent all year.