Isistius brasiliensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 15

Isistius brasiliensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

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Scymnus brasiliensis Cuvier, in Quoy & Gaimard, 1824: 198 . Holotype: MNHN A- 7787, 140 mm TL female, off Brazil.

Local synonymy: Isistius brasiliensis — Duncker & Mohr, 1926: 84 (northern PNG); Parin, 1966: 163, fig. 2 (northern PNG); Parin et al., 1977 (northern PNG); Kailola, 1987: 22 (northern PNG); White et al., 2018: 58, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (2 spec.) UF 79884, adult male ~ 385 mm TL, north of Ninigo Islands , 0°2’ S, 144°55’ E, 20 m depth, 10 Nov. 1969 ; ZMH 10215, female 208 mm TL, north of Manus Island, 0°0’ N, 146°5’ E, 24 Jul. 1908 .

Remarks: First recorded by Duncker & Mohr (1926) from northern PNG, based on ZMH 10215. Not recorded during recent surveys but images taken by fishery observers of bite marks on scombrids and billfish landed on longline vessels are from this species. Further specimens required to determine whether the rarer Isistius plutodus Garrcik & Springer, 1964 also occurs in PNG waters.