Rhinochimaeridae, Garman, 1901

Calle-Morán, Marcos Douglas & Béarez, Philippe, 2020, Updated checklist of marine cartilaginous fishes from continental and insular Ecuador (Tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean), Cybium 44 (3), pp. 239-250 : 248

Family Rhinochimaeridae

118. Harriotta raleighana Goode & Bean, 1895 – Quimera de Raleigh – Narrownose chimaera

Mainland. Martỉnez-Ortiz and Garcỉa-Domỉnguez (2013), Robertson and Allen (2015). LC

119. Rhinochimaera africana Compagno, Stehmann & Ebert , 19904 – Pez fantasma africano – Paddlenose spookfish

Mainland. Ebert (2016). DD

4 The specimen mentioned as Rhinochimaera sp. by Martỉnez-Ortiz and Garcỉa-Domỉnguez (2013: 24) probably represents this species.

The order with the highest number of species for sharks was Carcharhiniformes with 37 species, and the lowest was Squatiniformes with only 1 species. For rays the highest number of species was for Myliobatiformes with 25 species, and the lowest was Torpediniformes with 5 species. The order of Chimaeriformes included 7 species ( Fig. 3 ).

Nearly half (58) of Ecuadorian chondrichthyans are only found along the mainland coast, while 12 are only found in Galápagos, and 49 are shared between the two regions. It is interesting to note that several families of rays (e.g. urotry- gonids, gymnurids) with limited swimming ability are absent from the insular region. The endemism of Chondrichthyans is rather low (5%) in Ecuadorian waters, accounting for just 2 sharks, 2 rays, and 2 chimaeras. Among them, two are mainland endemics ( Triakis acutipinna , Dipturus ecuadoriensis ) and four are Galápagos endemics ( Bythaelurus giddingsi , Rajella eisenhardti , Hydrolagus alphus , H. mccoskeri ).

Among the 119 species of Ecuadorian chondrichthyans, 4 are Critically Endangered, 9 are Endangered, 17 are Vulnerable, 17 are Near Threatened, 18 are Least Concern, 48 are Data Deficient, and 6 are Not Evaluated. It is important to note the high proportion of species without data to assess their status. This shows the low level of knowledge about chondrichthyans in general, and in this region of the world in particular.

Figures

Figure 3. – Number of species per order of sharks, rays and chimae- ras in Ecuador (n = 119).