Coelorinchus brevirostris Okamura, 1984

Coelorhynchus brevirostris Okamura in Okamura and Kitajima, 1984:225 (holotype, BSKU 29562; Okinawa Trough, 25°47.4ʹN, 124°23.4ʹE, 600 m.) .

Caelorinchus brevirostris: Chiou et al., 2004b:301 (redescription, 11 spec., Taiwan).

Coelorinchus brevirostris: Shao et al., 2008: table 2 (6 spec., NET, ET, SCS, 445–1185 m) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED (21 spec.).— NET: ASIZP 61350 (1, 175+ TL), Da-xi; ASIZP 61351 (1, 213+ TL), Da-xi; ASIZP 61352 (1, 144 TL), Da-xi; ASIZP 65613 (1, 175+ TL), CP 120, 520– 640 m; ASIZP 65518 (1, 183+ TL), 24.66°N, 122.18°E, CD 209, 508– 522 m; ASIZP 66806 (1, 44.6 HL, 163+ TL,); CP 315, 509 m; ASIZP 66814 (4, 110–200 TL); CD 311, 516 m; CAS 215542 (2, 51.9 HL, 215+TL); Da-xi; CAS 228339 (1, 215+ TL); Nan-fang-ao . ET: ASIZP 65519 (1, 215 TL) and ASIZP 65615 (1, 134+ TL), CD 210, 445– 1185 m . SCS: ASIZP 65675 (1, 140+ TL), CD 311, 516 m; ASZIP 66170 (1, 196+ TL) and ASIZP 66191 (1, 170+ TL), OCP 313, 513 m; ASIZP 66186 (1, 194+ TL) and ASIZP 66874 (1, 92+ TL), 21.67°N, 117.72°E, CP 314, 506 m; CAS 224494 (ex ASIZP 66182) (1, 185 TL), 21.67°N, 117.72°E; coll. P-F Lee, 17 Aug. 2005 .

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES.— 1D II 7–8; P i14–17; GR-I (inner) 6–8 (total); scales below midbase 1D 4.5–5.5, below 2D 4.5–5.5; pyl.caeca 13–16. Snout rather short, broad, and depressed, 39–44% HL; terminal scute small; anterolateral snout margin incompletely supported by bone; orbit 25–28% HL; 1.5– 1.7 in snout length; upper jaw 21–24% HL; body terete. Underside of snout and head naked; nasal fossa scaled; body scales large, with 5–8 parallel spinule rows. Second spinous ray of 1D prolonged, 1.3 times HL; rays of 2D well developed, about as long as opposite rays in A. Light organ group IV (of Iwamoto in Cohen et al. 1990), extends from anus to just behind isthmus. Body without prominent markings. Attains about 220 mm TL.

DISTRIBUTION.— East China Sea (Okinawa Trough) n. of Ishigaki Is. to sw. Taiwan in South China Sea at depths of 400–1185 m.

REMARKS.— The species was originally described from a single specimen taken in the East China Sea in 600 m, but subsequently redescribed by Chiou et al. (2004b) from 11 specimens collected from ne. Taiwan. More specimens were recently collected from the South China Sea at depths between 445 and 1185 m (see Shao et al. 2008: table 2). Our specimens agree well with the original description except that they had fewer P rays (14–17 versus 19) and a shorter barbel (16–20% of orbit versus 24.7%). However, one of us (NN) re-examined the holotype and found P i16–i17 and barbel length 15% of orbit diameter, which is in agreement with our Taiwan specimens.

Among the Taiwan species of Coelorinchus, C. brevirostris is likely to be confused only with the recently described C. fuscigulus and C. cingulatus, but the lack of body markings distinguishes it from other members of the genus having an elevated 2D and long light organ with the anterior fossa just posterior to isthmus.