Bothrocara molle Bean, 1890

M. Eric Anderson, 2006, Studies on the Zoarcidae of the southern hemisphere. X. New records from western Antarctica., Zootaxa 1110, pp. 1-15 : 2-3

Bothrocara molle Bean, 1890

Bothrocara mollis Bean, 1890: 39 (type locality: off the Queen Charlotte Islands , British Columbia, Canada ); Clemens & Wilby, 1949: 194, fig. 131.

Bothrocara molle : Clemens & Wilby, 1961: 390, fig. 271; Hart, 1973: 236, text fig.; Masuda et al., 1984: 309, pl. 275G; Mecklenburg et al., 2002: 732, text fig.

Bothrocaropsis alalonga Garman, 1899: 127 , pl. 32, fig. 2.

Bothrocara remigera Gilbert, 1915: 366 (partim), pl. 20, fig. 19.

Lamprogrammus sp.: Trunov, 1999: 492, fig. 1.

Material examined: Scotia Sea off South Georgia : USNM 356643 (4 specimens; 115-165 mm SL) and SAIAB (RUSI) 60090 (3; 129-202 mm SL), 53°31.2'S, 37°50.9'W, ISLAS ORCADAS coll. UMO 7, 10 ft. beam trawl, 1286-1293 m, 11 May 1975, H. H. DeWitt. USNM 356646 (1; 215 mm SL), 53°26.7'S, 36°32.8'W, ISLAS ORCADAS coll. UMO 28 , 10 ft. beam trawl, 2039-2187 m, 17 May 1975, H. H. DeWitt.

Diagnosis. Bothrocara molle is distinguished from its congeners by it long, slender gill rakers (raker ratio as percent: 163-267) and long pectoral fin, reaching almost to anus in young or just beyond it in adults.

Description. Vertebrae 18-20 + 85-91 = 104-110; D 99-105; A 84-89; P 14-15; C 10; pelvics absent; branchiostegal rays 6; gill rakers 5-6 + 16-20 = 21-26; vomerine teeth 0-3; palatine teeth absent in all; pseudobranch filaments 7-10; pyloric caeca 2; gill raker ratio (as percent) 222-267; preoperculomandibular pores 8; suborbital pores 6 + 3; postorbital pores 4; supraorbital (nasal) pores 2; interorbital pore 1; occipital pores absent. Lateral line double, with dorsal branch arching across body to just posterior to anus and mediolateral branch running from just anterior to anus to tail tip.

Remarks. The above synonymy, although incomplete, reflects my unpublished work on the genus Bothrocara , revisionary studies of which are in preparation. This species is close to B. brunneum with which it has long been confused. Bothrocara molle is known in the literature from Japan ( Masuda et al., 1984) to Chile (as Bothrocara alalonga ; Kong and Melendez, 1991), thus the new specimens represent a considerable range extension. Additionally, Trunov (1999) reported three specimens from Meteor Seamount in the South Atlantic questionably identified as an ophidioid, Lamprogrammus sp., which are probably B. molle .