New record of Zameus squamulosus (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Somniosidae) in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Zameus squamulosus is a somniosid shark with a patchy world-wide distribution that has been reported throughout the Atlantic, Indian, western, north, central and south-eastern Pacific Oceans. In the Northern Gulf of Mexico Zameus squamulosus is occasionally captured by longlines in deep waters off the coast of Florida, but until now there were no records of the species in the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Four specimens of Zameus squamulosus were collected in 2004 and 2009 on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Collections were made at depths of 698 m and 701 m. These specimens constitute the first records of this species for the southern Gulf of Mexico and, as they were captured with bottom associated trawls, we infer that this species is more commonly found at the bottom ocean.