Halosaurus johnsonianus Vaillant, 1888

Bañón, Rafael, Arronte, Juan Carlos, Armesto, Ángeles, Barros-García, David & Carlos, Alejandro De, 2016, Halosaur fishes (Notacanthiformes: Halosauridae) from Atlantic Spanish waters according to integrative taxonomy, Zootaxa 4184 (3), pp. 471-490 : 478-479

Halosaurus johnsonianus Vaillant, 1888

Fig. 4.

Halosaurus johnsonianus Vaillant [L. L.] 1888 : 181, Pl. 15 (figs. 2-2d). Off western Sahara, 23°50'N, 17°17'W, depth 1,139 meters. Lectotype: MNHN 1885-0361 . McDowell 1973: 56 –57 (key); Harrisson 1972: 254; Maul 1976: 20 (description); Sulak 1986a: 593 –598 (description, key); Sulak 1990: 131.

Material examined. MHNUSC 25013- 1, 354 mm TL, 19th July 2009, Le Danois Bank; 43º55.22'N—4º47.92'W; 1,198 m depth; MHNUSC 25013- 2, 404 mm TL, 19th July 2009, Le Danois Bank; 43º55.22'N—4º47.92'W; 1,198 m depth.

Description. Body shape eel-like, moderately compressed, elongated and attenuated to the caudal peduncle; body very slender, its greatest depth is contained 2.8–3.1 times in the head length; top and sides of head scaled nearly to tip of snout; opercle scaled; lateral line scales only slightly enlarged, forming a dark band; gill rakers longer than opposite gill laminae; pyloric caeca very short and black. The main morphometric and meristic characteristics are presented in Table 5 .

Habitat and distribution. Benthopelagic, between 680–2,100 m depth and 4–11ºC. Eastern Atlantic, from the Porcupine Seabight , Portugal and southern Spain to Mauritania including the Azores, Cape Verde, and Canary Islands ( Maul 1976; Sulak 1990; Priede et al. 2010)

Tables

TABLE 5. Comparison of morphometric, meristic data and respective body proportions for specimens of Halosaurus johnsonianus.

Halosaurus johnsonianus Total Length (mm)	MHNUSC 25013 (1–2) 354 404	Maul, 1976 (N=1) 294+	Sulak, 1986 —
Preanal length (mm) Gnathoproctal length (mm) As % GPL	140 165 129 151	— —	— —
Head length Eye diameter Preorbital length	34.1 29.4 2.3 3.1 17.1 13.5	— — —	— — —
Postorbital length Interorbital length Preoral snout length	15.5 12.9 3.9 2.5 6.2 4.9	— — —	— — —
Predorsal length Dorsal base length Pectoral length	72.9 67.5 7.8 8.6 15.5 15.3	— — —	— — —
Prepelvic length Pelvic length Body depth	62.8 62.0 10.1 8.0 10.9 10.4	— — —	— — —
Meristic features Dorsal fin rays Ventral fin rays	I+10 I+10 I+9 I+8	10 —	I+9–10 I+8
Pectoral fin rays SLL to anus SLL to pelvic origin	I+12 I+12 57 57 25 24	— — ~27	I+15 51 —
Scales above lateral line Branchiostegal rays Gill rakers	11 11 14 14 3+1+14 3+1+13	— — 4+1+13	— — +14
Pyloric caeca	8 6	—	4–9