Hedgpethia dofleini (Loman, 1911)

Fig. 2, Table 1

Colossendeis dofleini Loman, 1911: 4–5, pl. 1 figs 9–13. Colossendeis dofleini – Fukui 1919: 98. — Ohshima 1936: 867. — Hedgpeth 1949: 300, fig. 47a–d. — Utinomi 1951: 167; 1955: 33; 1959: 220; 1971: 337. — Losina-Losinsky & Turpaeva 1958: 32 [key], tab. 4. — Stock 1958: tab. 1.

Rhopalorhynchus dofleini – Stock 1958: 116 [text], 118 [key], tab. 1; 1970: 9 [key].

Hedgpethia dofleini – Turpaeva 1973: 184 [key], 185 [text], tab. 2; 1993: 21 [text]. — Nakamura & Child 1991: 63. — Stock 1991a: 166 [text].

Type material (not examined)

Holotype

NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC • ♀; Eastern Honshu, Sagami Bay, Misaki; F. Doflein leg.; hosting institution unknown.

Other material examined

SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN OCEAN • 1 spec.; Mozambique Channel, north of Mayotte, northeast of Northern Reef; 12°29′53.9988″ S, 45°1′59.9988″ E; depth 450 m; 30 Mar. 1977; BENTHEDI stn DS71; MNHN-IU-2009-3005 .

Distribution and depth range

West Kyushu, Eastern Coast of Japan from South Kyushu to Hokkaido and including Sagami Bay (type locality), east of Kurile Islands. GBIF (2025) records extend further this distribution to the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, and to Mayotte. This latter record is particularly distant from the known distribution. I could examine part of this material (specimen MNHN-IU-2009-3005), but did not identify any obvious morphological difference from Loman’s (1911) illustrations. However, these are insufficient in details and the original material should also be reexamined. Minimal known depth range 40–869 m? Some previous authors (starting from Utinomi 1971) extend this depth range up to 20 m but I have not found any corresponding record in the literature.