Hexanchus nakamurai Teng, 1962

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 19

Hexanchus nakamurai Teng, 1962

Bigeyed Sixgill Shark

Hexanchus griseus nakamurai Teng, 1962: 30 , fig. 5. Holotype: TFRI 2515 . Type locality: Keelung, Taiwan [lost] . Neotype: NMMB-P 15835 , 1565 mm total length (TL) mature male. Type locality: Cheng-gong , Taiwan, 22°58'N, 120°08'E .

Local synonymy: Hexanchus vitulus: Bass et al., 1975d: 9 ; Bass et al., 1986: 46, fig. 2.3; Compagno, 1984a: 20, fig.; Compagno et al., 1989: 18, pl.; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 52. Hexanchus nakamurai: Ebert, 1990: 54 , fig. 3.13; Compagno, 1999: 114; Compagno et al., 2005: 67, fig., pl. 1; Barnett et al., 2012: 968; Ebert, 2013: 41, fig. 33; Ebert et al., 2013 a: 68, fig., pl. 1; Ebert et al., 2013b: 20; Ebert & Mostarda, 2013: 9, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 144; Weigmann, 2016: 888.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 6897, SAIAB 99393 [former ORI 2822], SAIAB 189029.

South Africa distribution: Known from three specimens, all off KZN; an adult male about 155 cm TL, another specimen of about the same size caught in the shark nets off Park Rynie ( Bass et al., 1975d), and the head only of an individual from off Pumula.

Remarks: KZN may be the southern extent of the range of this species in the WIO, as it appears to be more common off Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya. Also, this species is frequently misidentified with smaller (<150 cm TL) H. griseus , which are very common below 200 m in South African waters. The KZN specimens were originally referred to as H. vitulus ( Bass et al., 1975d) , but subsequent taxonomic research concluded these are referable to H. nakamurai ( Ebert, 1990) . Recently, H. vitulus was resurrected as a valid species ( Daly-Engel et al., 2019), but it appears to be restricted to the North Atlantic. Any new records of H. nakamurai from South Africa should be examined.

Conservation status: NT (2020).