Vibilia armata Bovallius, 1887: 10 (69); Brusca, 1981: 17 (key), 39, fig. 4c, e; Siegel-Causey, 1982: 116 (key), 119; Vinogradov et al., 1996: 243 (key), 274‒276, fig. 112; Shih & Hendrycks, 2003: 255 (tab. 1), 256 (tab. 2), 292 (key) 270; Zeidler, 2003: 13 (key), 32‒36, figs. 12‒13; Brusca & Hendrickx 2005: 149 (list); García Madrigal, 2007: 144 (list); Guillén Pozo, 2007: 20 (key), 24, fig. 4, 121 (tab. 1), 130‒179 (passim), 149 (tab. 40); Lavaniegos & Hereu, 2009: 142 (tab. 1), 137‒149 (pas- sim), 151 (Appendix 1); Gasca et al., 2012: 126 (tab. 1), 131, 133 (tab. 4); Valencia et al. 2013: 51 (tab. 1); Lavaniegos, 2014: 1‒9 (passim), 4 (tab. 1), 10 (tab. 4); 2017: 13‒25 (passim), 18 (tab. 1); 2020: 9‒16 (passim).
Vibilia erratica Chevreux, 1892: 32‒35, figs. 1‒3.
Vibilia gracilis Bovallius, 1887: 9.
Vibilia gracilenta Bovallius, 1887: 9‒10.
Material examined. 227 M and 454 F from 32 localities (Fig. 2). TALUD I. St. 5 (ca. 23°16’ N, 107°31’W), December 11, 1989, 3M, 3F, BO from surface to ca. 200 m (TD> 1500 m) (ICML-EMU-12836-A); St. 6 (23°15’54”N, 107°31’12”W), December 12, 1989, 1F, BO from surface to ca. 200 m (TD, 1550 m) (ICML-EMU-12836-B). TA- LUD III. St. 3B (22°36’36”N, 106°35’54”W), August 17, 1991, 4M, 6F, IK from surface to 275 m (TD, ca. 650 m) (ICML-EMU-12837-A); St. 10B (23°43’24”N, 107°39’06”W), August 18, 1991, 2M, 9F, IK from surface to 630 m (TD, ca. 900 m) (ICML-EMU-12839-A); St. 18 (ca. 25°N, 109°W), August 19, 1991, 1M, IK, depth not registered (TD> 1000 m) (ICML-EMU-12837-B); St. 19 (25°12’00”N, 109°07’00”W), August 20, 1991, 1M, 3F, I-K, surface to 410 m (TD, 920 m) (ICML-EMU-12837-C); St. 19B (25°18’24”N, 109°18’36”W), August 20, 1991, 86M, 163F, IK from surface to 600 m (TD, 1890 m) (ICML-EMU-12838); St. 25A1 (25°51’00”N, 109°57’00”W), August 21, 1991, 29M, 50F, IK from surface to 200 m (TD, ca. 1320 m) (ICML-EMU-12839-B); St. 25A2 (25°50’54”N, 109°56’54”W), August 21, 1991, 5M, 6F, IK from surface to 230 m (TD, ca. 1200 m) (ICML-EMU-12839-C). TALUD IV. St. 7 (22°00’22”N, 106°49’18”W), August 23, 2000, 33M, 33F, MN from surface to 500 m (TD, 1970 m) (ICML-EMU-12840); St. 15 (23°23’30”N, 107°47’48”W), August 24, 2000, 1M, 4F, MN from surface to 1500 m (TD, 2350 m) (ICML-EMU-12841-A); St. 22 (24°17’20”N, 108°50’30”W), August 26, 2000, 1M, 9F, MN from surface to 1325 m (TD, ca. 1800 m) (ICML-EMU-12841-B); St. 25A2 (25°50’54”N, 109°56’54”W), August 21, 2000, 2M, 11F, IK from surface to 230 m (TD, ND) (ICML-EMU-12841-C); St. 36 (25°51’59”N, 110°11’00”W), August 27, 2000, 2M, 2F, MN from surface to ca. 1300 m (TD, 2100 m) (ICML-EMU-12841-D). TALUD V. St. 5 (22°00’57”N, 106°40’00”W), December 13, 2000, 4M, 56F, MN from surface to ca. 1400 m (TD> 1600 m) (ICML- EMU-12842-A); St. 29 (25°14’36”N, 109°24’15”W), December 17, 2000, 3M, 6F, MN from surface to 1290 m (TD, 2040 m) (ICML-EMU-12842-B); St. 36 (25°54’30”N, 110°11’24”W), December 17, 2000, 10M, 12F, MN from surface to 1340 m (TD, 1990 m) (ICML-EMU-12842-C). TALUD VI. St. 7 (22°21’39”N, 107°01’42”W), March 14, 2001, 16M, 21F, MN from surface to 1305 m (TD, 2100 m) (ECO-CH-Z-10550); St. 22 (24°17’34”N, 108°50’25”W), March 15, 2001, 5M, 4F, MN from surface to 1410 m (TD, 1760 m) (ICML-EMU-12843-A); St. 29 (25°16’24”N, 109°24’54”W), March 16, 2001, 5F, MN from surface to 1440 m (TD, 2080 m) (ICML-EMU- 12843-B); St. 36 (2) (25°53’15”N, 110°10’06”W), March 17, 2001, 2M, 1F, MN from surface to 1360 m (TD, 2000 m) (ICML-EMU-12843-C). TALUD VII. St. 15 B (23°25’06”N, 107°47’31”N), June 7, 2001, 1M, 3F, MN from surface to 1425 m (TD, 2320 m) (ICML-EMU-12844-A); St. 22 (24°21’08”N, 108°55°14” W), June 7, 2001, 2M, 3F, MN from surface to 1415 m (TD, 2000 m) (ICML-EMU-12844-B); St. 29 (25°17’31”N, 109°24’30”W), June 8, 2001, 1F, MN from surface to 1335 m (TD, 2080 m) (ICML-EMU-12844-C); St. 36 (25°42’37”N, 110°04’35”W), June 9, 2001, 4M, 11F, MN from surface to 1390 m (TD, 2400 m) (ICML-EMU-12844-D). TALUD X. St. 11 (27°34’16”N, 111°40’W), February 11, 2007, 2F, MN, from surface to 1215 m (TD, 1801 m) (ICML-EMU-12845- A); St. 23 (27°00’30”N, 111°12’00”W), February 14, 2007, 3M, 1F, MN from surface to approx. 1250 m (TD, 1770 m) (ICML-EMU-12845-B). TALUD XI. St. 6A (16°58’00”N, 100°57’00”W), June 7, 2007, 1M, MN from surface to 1400 m (TD, 1960 m) (ICML-EMU-12846-A); St. 19B (16°59’39”N, 100°58’07”W), March 28, 2008, 1M, 6F, MN from surface to 1200 m (TD, 1995 m) (ICML-EMU-12846-B). TALUD XII. St. 15C (17°27’51”N, 102°10’43”W), March 31, 2008, 1M, MN from surface to 1530 m (TD, 1880 m) (ICML-EMU-12847-A); St. 22 (18°11’27”N, 103°52’29”W), March 31, 2008, 1M, 1F, MN from surface to 1340 m (TD, 2200 m) (ICML-EMU- 12847-B); St. 28B (18°56’00”N, 104°59’57”W), April 2, 2008, 4M, MN from surface to 1425 m (TD, 2041 m) (ICML-EMU-12847C).
Distribution. Tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, occasionally boreal; in the southern hemisphere to 50°S (Vinogradov et al. 1996). In the eastern Pacific it ranges from Newport to Baja California (García Madrigal 2007), in the Gulf of California (Siegel-Causey 1982; present study), and southward to Panama and Ecuador (Guillén Pozo 2007, Valencia et al. 2013).
Remarks. Recorded from a wide depth range, from the surface to 1756 m (Shih & Hendrycks 2003) and to 2860 m depth (García Madrigal 2007). Shih & Hendrycks (2003) reported this species as the predominant species of Vibilia in their eastern Pacific survey. Lavaniegos (2014, 2020) reported it as one of the most abundant off the Baja California Peninsula.